A Sibling By Any Other Name
by an-alternate-world
Summary: When Blaine is forced into finding a new family, he never expected to meet the people he did. He never expected his life to turn out this way. He never expected to fall so hopelessly in love so early in life. He never expected any of this.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** A Sibling By Any Other Name  
><strong>Author:<strong> an-alternate-world  
><strong>Rating:<strong> M (starts mild, rating will go up in future chapters)  
><strong>CharactersPairings:** Blaine/Kurt  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 7,743  
><strong>Summary:<strong> When Blaine is forced into finding a new family, he never expected to meet the people he did. He never expected his life to turn out this way. He never expected to fall so hopelessly in love so early in life. He never expected any of this. AnderBerry siblings, eventual Klaine.  
><strong>WarningsSpoilers: **A vague re-writing of canon Glee, but there are some huge differences, which you'll see as you go along. Angst, fluff, a little bit of smut.  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I am in no way associated with _Glee, FOX_, Ryan Murphy or anything else related to the _Glee _universe.

* * *

><p>When Blaine Anderson was five, he had no idea that the Tuesday he headed to school would be different from any other day. His tummy was growling and he tried not to think the bad thoughts about his parents but he was <em>so<em> hungry. They'd been busy last night and had forgotten to give him dinner and then this morning they'd been sleeping and there wasn't any food for breakfast. He hoped Miss Jay had an extra apple and Mandy's mom had packed some extra lunch otherwise Blaine didn't know when he was going to eat next.

His teacher had sighed and given him an apple from the bowl on her desk and he was crunching happily on it while colouring in. He had learned from the older kids that it was better if you coloured inside the lines so his tiny forehead was scrunched with concentration as he coloured as neatly as he could.

When Mr Humphrey came to the door asking to speak to Blaine, Blaine was terrified that his colouring wasn't good enough. He walked nervously beside Mr Humphrey who was so big, bigger than any man Blaine had ever seen, until they reached his office. Inside was a woman who said her name was Sandy. Blaine eyed her distrustfully as he climbed into the big chair opposite Mr Humphrey.

He didn't understand most of the conversation. Mr Humphrey explained that his parents had had a bad accident and weren't going to be able to take care of him anymore. That's why Sandy was here. She was going to take him to a new home where other children without mommies and daddies stayed. It was like a sleepover, she said. Blaine wasn't convinced by her enthusiasm but he felt really bad. What if his mean thoughts had been the reason his parents got hurt? He knew they weren't as good as other parents but they _were _still his parents.

Sandy helped him collect his things from his classroom where Miss Jay watched him sadly. He didn't like that look. He was going to a new place and maybe they'd feed him! Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Blaine fell asleep in the car. It felt like they'd been driving forever and ever but he didn't think he could ask if they were there yet like he did when his daddy took him places. They pulled up outside a nice house that had toys all over the front yard. This was way better than the dead grass at Blaine's old house!

He met another woman who said her name was Carla. She would take care of him. Blaine nodded with wide eyes as he followed her to his new bedroom. It was bigger than his old one, but that was because he was sharing with five other children. He wrinkled his nose at the idea of other people in his space but he noted that his bed wasn't on the floor and it had a bright blue blanket on it, so at least he would be warm.

Carla gave him some toast and apple juice, then made him a peanut butter sandwich when he whispered shyly that he was still hungry. She listened to lots of big words that Sandy used which Blaine had never heard before. When Sandy left, Carla told Blaine that her husband, Jack, would buy Blaine new clothes, because they had been damaged in the accident. Blaine thought the accident must have been pretty bad and felt that horrible feeling again that it was his fault. He wondered if saying sorry would make it all okay again. His mommy would say that if he said sorry, she wouldn't hate him so much. It always made Blaine feel sad when she said that and he'd instantly say sorry to her.

Soon there were lots of children in the house, boys and girls all about Blaine's age. They stared at him curiously while he stared at his dirty shoes as Carla and Jack explained Blaine was going to stay with them a while.

He was introduced to the boys he shared his room with - Matty, Nicholas, George, Toby and Max - and two of the girls, Bridie and Emma, shook his hand too. Blaine felt a little overwhelmed by all the new names and faces, not to mention the noise. But Carla made a really yummy dinner and Blaine _even _got seconds, so he didn't complain. He got ready for bed without a fuss, admiring the new clothes Jack had bought him, and snuggled into the bed.

Blaine had bigger difficulties grasping the fact he had to attend a new school. The other children in his new home were there too but Blaine missed Miss Jay and Mandy. But he got breakfast and lunch and Blaine didn't think that missing a couple of people mattered that much when his tummy felt so full all the time.

He also didn't understand why some of the children disappeared for a few days and came back upset. Emma left one day with a man and a woman and never came back. Blaine tried explaining to Carla about his missing friend, but she shushed him and said it was a good thing. Blaine didn't understand why his friend leaving was a good thing at all and started doubting that Carla and Jack were as nice as he originally thought. Who took in lots of children and then didn't care when they went away? It didn't make sense.

Then one day, a young man and woman came and played with Blaine and his blocks. They asked if he wanted a new mommy and daddy and Blaine shrugged. He'd already had those and they weren't as nice as Carla and Jack. The man and woman, Tommy and Jane, took Blaine with them and he frowned with confusion as he drove away from Carla's. Was he going to the same place Emma was?

They showed him a room that was all his, no more sharing, and explained he could live there as long as he wanted. Blaine was confused but Tommy made a nice dinner and Jane tucked him into bed with a kiss.

The next eighteen months made Blaine sound like Goldilocks. He went to many homes with many mommies and daddies but he always found something he didn't like and made such a fuss that they returned him to Carla and Jack's with a shake of their head. Blaine was beginning to understand that they were looking for a child and thought he could be their son, but he'd had parents and he didn't want to be a replacement for somebody that they couldn't have normally.

The day the Berry's came though was different. They brought a little girl with them who was so loud it hurt Blaine's ears. She ran around to all the other boys before stopping at Blaine.

"Hi, I'm Rachel. Who are you?"

"I'm Blaine."

She stared at him with her head cocked to one side. "Do you sing?"

He thought that was a funny question. "I like the choir at school. My teacher says I sing really nice."

Rachel beamed. "Do you want a sister, Blaine?"

Another funny question. He couldn't really have a sister because his parents had gone away and he knew that the other children at Carla and Jack's weren't his siblings, so how could he get a sister?

"I don't know," he said finally.

Rachel frowned. "But I like you. You look like me. I want you to be my brother."

Blaine stared at her. She wanted him to...? He'd been to many other places in the last couple of years but he was always alone and so having someone to play with could be fun.

"Okay. Where's your mommy and daddy?"

She pouted. "I don't have a mommy. I have two daddies. I'm really special because they love me lots and lots!"

Blaine's eyes widened. Two daddies? He'd never heard of that before. And no one had ever said they loved him, even the other mommies and daddies who took him home.

Two men came over and crouched beside Rachel. "Who's this?" one asked.

"This is Blaine, Papa. I like him."

"Blaine, huh?" He held his hand out to shake Blaine's and it was big and warm. "Do you want to try living with us and Rachel, Blaine? We would love someone as beautiful as you to join our family."

Blaine blushed. He'd never been called beautiful before and the man had said love! Blaine didn't think it was real for people to say that. And the man gave him a choice! He'd never had that before.

"I...I'd like that," he replied shyly.

Rachel squealed and flung her arms around his neck. He didn't get hugs much either. He patted her back awkwardly while Rachel's daddies talked to Carla.

Rachel spent the entire trip to her house talking about all the fun they were going to have and who her friends at school were and how exciting it was that she had a brother at last! Blaine nodded and tried to listen but he'd never known someone to talk as much as Rachel so he was relieved when they arrived at his latest home and Rachel showed him around her house. He was fascinated by all the posters in her room and pictures of her friends, feeling sad that he didn't have his own pictures to display on the walls.

Dinner was really yummy and Leroy helped him into bed and told Blaine that he was loved. It made a warm tingly feeling erupt in his tummy and he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

><p>Blaine was welcomed into the Berry household a few months before Kurt's mother died. He would see Rachel and Kurt playing dress-ups and having tea parties but Rachel would scream at him that he wasn't invited, so he'd slink away to his room and sulk.<p>

When Kurt's mother died, Kurt stayed with them for nearly two weeks. He barely spoke or ate, and often Blaine would see Kurt pressed against Rachel's tummy and crying. She'd run her hands through his hair and sing all the songs she knew until he fell asleep, eyes swollen and cheeks flushed and damp. And Blaine would watch from the doorway with a pang of jealousy, not at Kurt for being closer to his new sister than him, but at Rachel for being able to comfort Kurt when Kurt barely seemed to notice his existence.

Deep down, Blaine felt horribly guilty. He wondered if all the mean thoughts he'd had when sulking had made Mrs. Hummel sick, like the mean thoughts had led to his parents having their accident. He started acting out to ignore the bad thoughts, trying to be louder than the bad thoughts in his head. He tried to be noisier than Rachel, singing louder and dancing harder and chatting more. Instead of being the younger brother who Kurt never noticed, Blaine became the annoyingly loud hanger-on whenever Kurt wanted to play with Rachel. He was definitely noticed, but he was noticed because he was bad. Finally Rachel had enough and told him that she didn't like him anymore and she had asked her daddies if they could return Blaine. But he wasn't like a puppy that could be returned so she had to put up with him, so could he please learn to shut up because she was more important and loved more.

Hurt and frightened, Blaine withdrew and became increasingly silent. Kurt was glad the pesky brother had learned some manners. Rachel's daddies were glad he'd gotten through his 'difficult' phase. Rachel was once again the star of the family.

Blaine didn't want to be returned. Even though he found Rachel too loud, her daddies were really nice and told Blaine they loved him every night when he went to sleep, even if he'd been really loud and bad. For once, he didn't want to go back to Carla and Jack's. He wanted to stay with Rachel and Leroy and Hiram and live with them forever and ever.

So instead of being loud, Blaine went quiet, only speaking when spoken to, only singing when asked. He perfected his grades by giving up dancing, and spent more time reading while Rachel played with her dolls and Kurt. His daddies patted his head affectionately while Rachel told them about the next competition she was entered in, and Blaine found that the guilt he had over Kurt's mother dying dissipated when he caught Kurt's first nervous smiles after his mother had died. If Kurt could be okay losing his mommy, he didn't blame Blaine. And if he could handle losing a parent, so could Blaine.

* * *

><p>Blaine wasn't sure when he realized he was different from other boys. He heard Rachel talking about cute boys in her class like Noah and Finn, and Blaine realized that he wasn't really interested in the girls. Amy was sort of pretty and Nina was nice to him, but he didn't think about kissing them the way Rachel did. Instead, he found himself sneaking glances at Rachel's dads when they kissed, and paying more attention to James, this boy in his class who was the most popular boy in his grade. He didn't tell anyone though, not even his Leroy or Hiram, because he heard how the other children talked about two men being together and even though Blaine thought it seemed fine and normal to him, it clearly wasn't fine and normal to the other kids in his class. When it was show and tell time, he only talked about one of his dads, never mentioning his lack of a mother. He tried not to stare at the boys in his class longer than the girls. He tried not to wonder what it all meant.<p>

* * *

><p>When Blaine was twelve, he attended a Sadie Hawkins dance with his friend Ben. He'd asked Ben but Ben was his best friend, and neither had been asked by any girls, so they'd jokingly agreed to go together and maybe find a girl to dance with when they got there. Blaine didn't make it to the dance though. Some of the bigger boys had heard of Ben and Blaine's plan and hated it, so they beat Blaine up on his walk back to the school for the dance. He was spotted by a passing motorist who found his ID and took him to a hospital.<p>

When his fathers and Rachel arrived, they were horrified and appalled and immediately made him move schools. Scared he would get attacked again, Blaine pleaded that he wanted to board at Dalton. With nervous glances, his fathers agreed and that's how Blaine came to start at Dalton just after the winter break.

* * *

><p>"I can't <em>believe<em> he's gay," Rachel was saying over the phone as she told Blaine all about Kurt coming out.

Blaine felt strange hearing that Kurt was gay. Kurt had always been different, his voice higher and a second sense for fashion. He'd liked playing with Rachel's dolls and dressing up and Blaine hadn't really questioned it at the time. It just seemed like two friends playing. And Kurt had that quiet poise and dignity that Blaine had always felt shy around, losing his words and flushing.

"Rachel?" he interrupted her latest stream of words and she huffed at him. "What do you... Do you think it's bad that Kurt's gay?"

"What? Why? We have two dads, Blaine. Don't be ridiculous."

"So like...you don't care if people are gay?"

"Of course not! That's just silly, Blaine."

She launched into another rant but Blaine felt his thoughts drifting as her words washed over him. Was Blaine gay? Was that why sometimes he found himself staring at the other boys in his class when he should have been paying attention to the teacher? Was that why he insisted on dressing in a cubicle, because he was nervous of someone catching him gazing? Was that why the dreams that stirred his belly and left him hard with arousal when he woke usually featured a featureless, nameless shadow that was still definitely male in Blaine's mind?

He didn't hear much of Rachel's conversation, he never did, but he hung up and leaned back into his pillows with a confusing mixture of thoughts and feelings and no one he felt comfortable talking to about it.

* * *

><p>Blaine soon found himself searching online for factsheets on sexuality. He'd always armed himself with knowledge but the clinical way that they described something so intensely personal and incredibly confusing had Blaine feeling even more lost than before.<p>

It was late one night that he discovered a forum for gay teens in the US. Here were real people discussing their real feelings and inner conflicts. He signed up, searching for a name that wasn't his. Shaking with nerves, he entered in Jeff Smith. It was generic. No one would find him. He'd be safe. He'd describe himself like Jeff and no one would piece together that it was _him_. It would be fine.

Now with a username, he was able to read posts by teens across the country. His heart ached for those struggling with bullying, because he'd been so protected at Dalton for years. He found himself smiling through tears when he read about accepting friends and family, or first loves that returned feelings. He felt like he had found a place where he could unravel his confusion and he wouldn't be judged badly for it.

Liberated, he found himself posting about his feelings. He kept it vague enough that he'd never be recognised but exposed enough that he felt lighter with the confession. He was soothed by the freedom of anonymity and comforted by numerous faceless posters who just needed a place to vent.

He logged off and crawled into bed, sleeping calmer than he had in weeks.

* * *

><p>He didn't think about the forum for a few days, because he had a huge Geometry quiz to study for and the internet was a terrible distraction. But when it was over and done with, he found himself being pulled back to the site. He typed in his login details and checked over his shoulder, even though he was alone and his dorm door was locked, and was surprised when he had a private message.<p>

_Hi Jeff, I'm Eliza. I saw your post the other night and just wanted to say to you to keep your chin up! I came out to my friends and family recently and they were way more supportive than I'd ever imagined. Things are shitty at school with people who don't accept me but for those that I really needed, I'm really grateful that they __**did **__accept me. Don't give up!_

Blaine smiled and typed out a quick response before clicking on Eliza's profile. He read through some of her posts, feeling terribly sad that she remained so positive given the severity of her bullying. Blaine couldn't understand how it was possibly fair that someone as kind and caring as Eliza fell victim to such horrific bullying purely because she liked other girls. One of her posts described how she had made out with a guy from school because someone told her that she couldn't really 'know' until she'd tried it.

Something in that struck a chord with Blaine. He didn't really know because he'd never really been with either gender. He knew that the attraction wasn't really there with girls but maybe you didn't really _know _until you tried it?

He got his opportunity a week later when there was a Warbler party at one of the senior's houses. A bunch of the Crawford girls had come over and there was alcohol and usually Blaine avoided it but tonight he felt like he needed an escape, he needed something to block out the way he felt. He wasn't even sure what he was drinking as he switched between wine coolers and punch and beer and the world got increasingly brighter and louder as he ingested more and more alcohol.

Someone started a game of Spin The Bottle and Blaine fell on the floor to get involved. This is what he wanted. This is what he _needed_. A chance to make out with either gender and not get judged for it later. He could figure himself out and it would be glorious.

It began tame, small pecks on the cheek with both genders were a warm-up to the main rounds of heavy kissing or making out, depending on how drunk each participant was. Blaine didn't find kissing a girl or a guy particularly different. Maybe he wasn't gay, or straight. Could he be…he was so drunk he forgot the word. Non-sexual? Uninterested in everyone?

There were shots of tequila for those playing before the next round, and Blaine was starting to feel giggly and dizzy. His head rested on Thad's shoulder as his eyes blurred trying to watch the bottle go round and round and round.

"Blaaaaaaaaaaine!"

He blinked his eyes open and found the bottle had landed on him. His cheeks flushed as he sat up, a girl, Chelsea he thought her name was, crawling shakily across the carpet towards him. His balance was off when her mouth connected with his and he slipped, her body collapsing against his as she kissed him. And through the haze and the repetitive action of kissing her back, he found his hands unable to settle, not knowing where it was appropriate, and feeling the press of _boobs _and _hips _and the soft flesh wasn't really appealing.

And then he was cold and Chelsea was wriggling away to sit on her side of the circle and Blaine was gazing dopily at the ceiling.

"Blaine?" Thad poked his shoulder and he jerked away, stumbling out of the circle amidst the catcalls, even though he knew that he had most definitely _not _been interested in kissing Chelsea. Did that mean…?

He left the living room and slumped against one of the kitchen cabinets, breathing hard as he tried to collect his thoughts and figure out if that meant that yes, he was gay. It was too much and he wished he could ask someone like Eliza what it meant, because she'd made out with that guy a few weeks ago and she had clearly figured out her feelings.

"You okay, Blainey?"

He looked up as Michael, a senior, slid down the cabinet beside him.

"Don't know," he replied, voice slurred as he attempted to create coherent sentences from the incredibly jumbled mess in his head.

"Saw you kissin' Chelsea," Michael said, bumping his shoulder lightly. "Not happy?"

Blaine shrugged, staring at the patterned floor and feeling his stomach twisting with anxieties. Rachel wouldn't care if he was gay. He had two gay dads. They wouldn't care if he was gay. Dalton accepted anyone and everyone. No one would care there either.

"Hey." Michael's hand was warm on Blaine's cheek as he tilted it towards him.

Blaine gazed at Michael's green eyes and then they closed and Blaine went cross-eyed and Michael's lips were on his and somehow, somehow it was different from kissing Chelsea and anyone else tonight, because Michael kissed _back_ with as much force as Blaine did, and his lips were warm and rougher than Chelsea's and Blaine's mind wandered in a different direction as he just let himself _feel_. When Michael shifted him until he was laying back on the cold kitchen floor, Blaine heard a distant alarm but ignored it, because he needed to _know_, he needed to know what he liked or didn't like and the only way to know was to _feel_, and Michael was above him, knees on either side of Blaine's thighs, kissing him deeply and Blaine heard a moan and realised it was_ him_ and felt a ripple of embarrassment but Michael didn't seem to mind.

And unlike with Chelsea where his hands didn't know what to do, this time they gripped at Michael's shirt, and he found he was pulling Michael closer, trying to get one of Michael's legs between his because he instinctively knew it would feel better and he _wanted_.

"You want it?" Michael breathed between kisses, leg sliding between Blaine's thighs. He smiled when he felt Blaine rock into him and pushed Blaine into the floor harder. "You want it, Blainey?"

Blaine whimpered, the butterflies in his stomach twitching their wicked wings, and then he was gasping and scrambling away, clutching onto the countertop as he fumbled for the sink and threw up violently.

"Blaine?"

"I think Blainey's had too much alcohol," Michael told Wes, eyes dark as he watched Blaine retch again.

"Jesus, Blaine. You shouldn't have been drinking so much, you're underage!" Wes scolded, striding across the kitchen and running his hand over Blaine's back.

Michael sighed and walked out. Blaine didn't even notice as he sagged into Wes' arms, sick and exhausted and spent.

"C'mon Blaine." Wes tugged him towards a make-shift bed in the dining room where the freshman had set up camp and eased him onto the mattress. "Oi, Nick, wake up."

"Mm? Wha-?"

"Blaine's sick," Wes said, nudging Nick awake until he stared at Blaine who was pale and shaking, even as he clutched at the blankets. "I think he's had too much alcohol."

"Jesus," Nick muttered, eyes wide. He shook Jeff until Jeff's brown eyes opened owlishly and fell on Blaine.

"He doesn't look so good," Jeff whispered.

Wes grabbed another couple of blankets from the pile of spares on the dining table, tucking them around Blaine before rolling him onto his side, facing towards Nick and Jeff and pressing behind him.

"Shh…it's okay, Blaine. You're warm. You're safe," Wes hushed, stroking his fingers through Blaine's sweaty hair.

Nick crawled closer with Jeff, tucking Blaine's clammy hands between his warm ones and waiting patiently until Blaine's eyelids drooped and slipped closed, his tremors decreasing as he fell into an uneasy sleep.

"We'll take care of you, Blaine," Nick murmured, laying close to him and falling back to sleep with Jeff at his back…

The hangover hadn't been pleasant. Blaine had decided he was never, ever going to drink that much again. Through the mash of memories though was the realisation that he had liked kissing Michael and not Chelsea. That seemed to make his conflicted feelings alarmingly clearer.

* * *

><p>As predicted, Rachel and his dads didn't care. Although Rachel told him that he'd better not be attracted to any of her taken friends because the drama with Kurt and Finn was uncomfortable enough without the problems between Finn, her, Noah and Quinn. And Quinn was pregnant! God, the drama at McKinley made Blaine glad he was gay and at an all-boys school where the chances of knocking up a good little Crawford girl were slim given that their fathers were wealthy enough to kill you and bury you and pay off anyone investigating the disappearance. Blaine shuddered at the thought of getting a girl pregnant. Of what it entailed.<p>

Oh yes. Definitely gay.

* * *

><p>He found less of a use for the website he'd been on now that he wasn't so conflicted. He'd drop in occasionally to see how Eliza was doing and was dismayed that even as she grew stronger, her bullying grew worse. Her choir weren't supportive of her and he desperately wished he could reach through the screen and cuddle her, remind her of her own words of keeping her head up and staying strong. But his words sounded so fake and insincere because no one at Dalton cared what he was, no one treated him any differently. In fact, he got asked out on several dates which rarely eventuated to a second, but it didn't matter because people were <em>interested <em>in him. And he encouraged it. He felt like he was dancing among clouds. And being so comfortable and confident in his sexuality meant that he felt horribly guilty for Eliza and the other teens suffering on the site and he found himself drifting from it because he didn't want to be dragged down by the guilt. He'd had enough of that when he was younger.

It was strange when the school year finished and he went home for the two months of summer. It was strange seeing Rachel and interacting with her so much and dealing with her continual crisis over Finn. He knew Jesse St. James from the competition circuit, had seen him at some of Rachel's performances, and struggled to fight the urge of looking him up and beating his smarmy face in, because sometimes Rachel would be talking about something Finn had done and her face would crumple and she'd be sobbing over Jesse and Blaine had no idea what to do but hold her and send silent death threats to the heavens.

He saw Kurt a few times, but it seemed there was some sort of fracture in his friendship with Rachel during the year that meant he didn't come over as much, or have sleepovers with Rachel. He tried asking Rachel but she said Kurt still struggled with his feelings towards Finn and her being together and how it was so unprofessional for Kurt to not put his feelings aside and be the better friend and support her relationship. Blaine listened, well, half-listened to his sister as always but the Kurt he saw seemed beyond sad and withdrawn, to the point of distant and even _haunted_. Blaine desperately wanted to talk to him but once again, he felt like he'd just be an annoying younger brother and stayed in his room most of the time when he knew Kurt was over.

Another year began and he was back at Dalton. Blaine was relieved Michael had graduated and Wes was on the council because Wes had always looked out for him and it wasn't that he _wanted _all the solos, but he liked having Wes' approval. He liked being selected for his charm and abilities. It didn't matter if he was gay because crowds still liked him, still clapped with their song selections and tapped their feet and _enjoyed_. And Blaine had always wanted to entertain. Even though he'd toned it down because Rachel was so overbearing, he enjoyed the spotlight and he enjoyed feeling like he _mattered _somewhere and the stage was where he found acceptance and adoration and it made him dizzy with joy.

He heard about Kurt's father having a heart attack and he wanted so desperately to visit but Rachel said it was pointless and besides, what was Blaine to Kurt anyway? It was true. He was just her younger brother and they hadn't interacted much in the holidays. Still, Blaine knew what it was like to lose both parents, something he had distinctly avoided thinking about for years, and Kurt had already lost his mother. When Rachel called a week later and said that the coma had lifted and Burt Hummel was on the mend, Blaine nearly cried with relief because he didn't want Kurt to be so young and so alone. He had his friends and he had his father and he was going to be okay.

The day he turned on the step and saw Kurt standing there was the day he was sure someone had tipped ice over his head. The Kurt standing there, flushed, nervous and near-tears wasn't the same Kurt he'd seen from a distance since he was seven. He wasn't even the same Kurt that he'd glimpsed during the holidays on his infrequent trips for glasses of water or the use of the bathroom. He stumbled over his words as he pulled Kurt towards the performance, his first for the school on lead and he felt giddy with excitement to show Kurt what _he _could do, what the _Warblers _could do. He'd seen New Directions perform. He'd heard about Rachel getting solo after solo. But this was _his _turn.

Somehow, thank the Gods, he stayed standing and remembered the words, but he found it difficult to tear his eyes away from Kurt throughout the singing. There were pats on the back and high fives and cheers from the boys who had watched it but Blaine found that he just wanted to get closer to Kurt, wanted to know what _Kurt _had thought and Kurt seemed happier, lighter, than he had when Blaine had first seen him.

When the crowd had partially dispersed, Blaine picked up his bag and ushered Kurt into the corridors.

"I didn't expect to ever see you here," Blaine said quietly as he headed for the dorms.

Kurt shrugged silently, tugging his bag higher up his shoulder as he walked beside Blaine, head focused on the marble flooring beneath their feet.

Blaine bit his lip but thought he'd wait until Kurt was back in his room, back where privacy could protect their words and maybe Kurt would talk to him. He smiled and waved at a few of the boys who passed, thanked them for their kind words of his performance before saying he needed to keep walking and he'd see them soon. He caught Kurt staring at him after each exchange but there were never any words, not even a sound, and Blaine felt increasingly anxious as he unlocked the door to his room and draped his blazer over the back of his desk chair.

"You can sit wherever you feel most comfortable," he said gently, climbing onto his bed and sitting cross-legged against the pillows. Kurt shifted nervously and walked across the room to curl up in the window seat, staring across the Dalton grounds. Blaine couldn't help himself as he watched Kurt, who was so guarded and so shielded that it almost _hurt _to be looking at him, because he looked like he was in so much pain.

"I know you didn't come to see me," he said, interrupting Kurt's thoughts. Kurt turned his head to blink at him. "You didn't know I had a solo today. I didn't tell Rachel. So I know you aren't here for me." He suddenly realised how incredibly conceited that sounded. "Not that I'm saying you'd come here for me anyway! God, I'm meant to be modest. I just meant like, I don't know why you're here Kurt and I…I want to. I want to know. I want to help. If I can."

Kurt eyed him critically before his gaze fell to his hands and he picked at a nail.

"Kurt?"

"McKinley sucks," Kurt said finally as his fingers laced together in his lap. "The bullying is out of control and no one in Glee even cares anymore. No one notices how many times I have to change outfits because of all the slushies that get dumped on me. No one notices that I'm exposing less and less skin because of the bruises. No one notices that my tires get slashed every other week or that the jocks yell at me in the corridors." He breathed deeply and the sob rattled in his chest and Blaine watched as the pain creased his forehead and a tear slipped down his cheek and Blaine's heart _broke_. "I don't want to be there anymore but I don't know what else I can do. We're doing this stupid assignment of boys versus girls but we have to sing a mashup of songs by an artist of the opposite gender and I thought I'd nail it. I'm with the guys, even though they hate me and can't deal with me and half of them were involved in the bullying before they joined Glee, but I thought I could do it. I _know _girls songs. It's what I _do_. And they rejected me. They rejected my ideas. Finn was such an _ass_ and Puck told me to come and spy here on the competition and- shit."

"It's okay," Blaine shrugged. "I won't tell anyone why you were here."

"I wasn't _spying_," Kurt whispered as he wiped roughly at his cheeks. "I just wanted to see what it was like here. I wanted to see if it was as good as the website showed."

Blaine felt his heart clinch as he slid off his bed and sat on the window seat by Kurt's feet.

"What do you mean by the bruises, Kurt?"

"Caught that, did you?" Kurt laughed bitterly. "No one else seems to realise."

"Kurt."

"I get thrown in the dumpster, okay? I get thrown in and sometimes I connect with broken bottles or bricks or other stuff that rips my clothes and skin to pieces." Kurt stared at a leaf which twirled towards the ground. "And I get shoved into the lockers more times per day than everyone else in that school _combined_. I've got handprints and locker grooves all over me so I hide it under my clothes."

If Rachel was blind to this, Blaine was going to open her eyes until her lids got ripped off until she would never be able to close her eyes again. And if she knew…God, he'd rip her precious vocal cords out.

He reached for Kurt's hand and then pulled back when Kurt visibly flinched away and if he thought he had a broken heart before, it was surely shattered now.

"Kurt, I won't hurt you," he whispered. It felt like he was trying to soothe a wounded animal. "You took my hand earlier too."

"I…I know that. In my heart. But…but in my head, all touch means pain now and it's…it's automatic," Kurt said with a sniffle. "I'm so sorry, Blaine."

Blaine shook his head and held his hand out, completely still and patient. Kurt chewed his lip as he stared at it and the pieces of Blaine's heart fell away because Jesus, he'd known Kurt since he was _seven _and okay, he might have been loud and annoying to assuage his guilt of Kurt's mom dying but he'd never, ever said a mean word to Kurt or touched him other than a brush of hands as food plates got passed or on the staircase when Blaine was home. And Kurt looked so utterly _petrified._

But Blaine kept his hand there, kept it palm up and open and waited. He remembered when there had been a new kid, Charlie, a couple of years ago who the rumours said had been raped before he arrived at Dalton. They'd been given basic instructions not to startle him with sudden movements or noise and approach him gently, slowly, and as non-threatening as young teenage boys could. He'd lasted less than a year before his parents had pulled him out for intensive PTSD therapy but Blaine had used every bit of his inner calm to approach Charlie as often as he could. Just before he'd left, Blaine felt like he'd made a tiny bit of progress because Charlie looked less like a skittered rabbit every time he came near and spoke softly to him.

He was so lost in his thoughts about Charlie that he was shocked from his thoughts by the cool touch of Kurt's fingers curling into his. Kurt, who had red cheeks and shiny eyes, had trusted him enough to touch him. It didn't matter that it took more than five minutes to make the small gesture, because it meant _so _much to Blaine to be able to touch. And it wasn't even that he was touching _Kurt_. Not really. It was more that he was able to bridge a gap with someone who was so scared but had been comfortable enough to reach out when they'd first flinched back.

His fingers slid between Kurt's, gentle and undemanding, and he caught the shy smile on Kurt's lips as he stared at his hand being encased by Blaine's.

"I won't hurt you, Kurt," he murmured, thumb brushing over the back of Kurt's hand which he tried to ignore was so incredibly soft. "I'll never hurt you. You're safe here at Dalton. You're safe here with me."

Kurt's gaze moved from his hand to Blaine's face and Blaine hoped it was earnest, hoped that his honesty showed. Whatever Kurt was looking for, he didn't tear away from Blaine as fresh tears welled in his eyes.

"Kurt, can I…can I hug you? I know you're afraid and I know you're hurt but I'll be gentle, I promise."

Kurt trembled faintly, his fingers twitching with fright at the offer. Blaine didn't let go of his hand, didn't change his grip, didn't move, just waited until Kurt had worked through his fear at the thoughts rushing through his head.

This time, it took nearly ten minutes before his head nodded the slightest bit, and Blaine tugged him carefully closer until he could wrap his arms around Kurt. And he felt Kurt's fingers clench into the fabric of his school shirt, felt the quake in his shoulders as he cried quietly against Blaine's chest, but Blaine held him steady and firm, mindful of the terrible bruises that lurked beneath Kurt's clothing. His head rested against the top of Kurt's hair, trying to keep the press of his arms and hands off Kurt's back in case he found a mark that made Kurt stiffen in pain.

Blaine watched the leaves fall out the window, watched the sky get gradually darker as Kurt sobbed for what must have been an hour or more, and Blaine thought that if Rachel was blind to this, she would lose her precious vocal cords anyway.

Gradually, he felt Kurt's shaking ease and heard the sniffles lessen. He let Kurt pull away and wipe his own eyes, because he knew deep down that reaching for Kurt's face would probably make him fall off the ledge they were sitting on.

"I should get back to Lima," he whispered, voice raspy and tired as he glanced out the window.

"Can I…" Blaine looked at Kurt's hands and then at his own. "Can I give you my phone number? Please? I want you to know that no matter what, no matter what's going on or how alone you might feel, I want you to know that I'll be here. That you can call or text me at any time and I'll listen."

Kurt gazed at him again and Blaine wondered what he was searching for in his face all the time. Then he reached for the pocket of his jeans and withdrew his iPhone and handed it over for Blaine to key in his number.

He handed it back and Kurt rang it and Blaine heard it beeping from his bag.

"Now you can put in the number so you know who it is if I call you," Kurt mumbled, tapping Blaine's name into his contacts.

Blaine grinned and lightly pressed his nose into Kurt's shoulder. "I don't know how much you know about me, Kurt. But I understand. I know how much it hurts. I know how scary it can be." His fingers passed over Kurt's so softly that he barely touched him. "I came to Dalton and I ran. But you can fight back. You can educate the bullies and you can make them realise it's not okay." His thumb stroked over Kurt's pinky and Kurt inhaled sharply but didn't pull away, and Blaine took that as a small sign of success. "I remember who you were, Kurt. You were so strong. You were so obnoxiously opinionated. Don't let them beat it out of you. Don't let them break your spirit."

Kurt sniffed and Blaine smiled sadly as Kurt wiped away the fresh tears that spilled over his cheeks.

"I wasn't obnoxiously opinionated," Kurt said finally when he'd regained his composure. "You were just a naïve little boy who didn't appreciate proper etiquette and fashion."

Blaine laughed and gently touched Kurt's hand again. "Well, I'm terribly sorry for being such a horrendous young miscreant, good sir." He delighted in Kurt's smile and couldn't help smiling back. "I do believe you were saying something about needing to get back to Lima. Shall I walk you to your car?"

Kurt blushed and nodded with a giggle. "At least Dalton has taught you something."

Blaine gathered up Kurt's bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Dalton has taught me many things," he conceded with a nod. "But it's also sheltered me from a lot of others. It's a blessing and a curse."

Kurt nodded, even as his gaze became trained on the floor again. Blaine wondered if it was a standard thing for Kurt to do when he walked, or only if he was in school corridors. Maybe it hurt less if Kurt didn't see the attack coming?

The walk to Kurt's car was not nearly long enough as Blaine handed the bag over and watched Kurt lay it on the floor of the passenger side and then close the door.

And then it became awkward, neither knowing exactly what to say.

"Call me," Blaine said, breaking the silence. "Or text me, if you don't like talking on the phone. Any time, okay?"

Kurt gave a wobbly sort of nod as he twisted his car keys in his hands. "Can I…can I hug you, Blaine?"

Blaine smiled and held his arms open until Kurt swallowed and moved into the embrace, tucking his face into Blaine's shoulder and breathing deeply.

"Thank you," he whispered, hands fisted into the back of Blaine's shirt.

"I just hope I helped," Blaine whispered back.

Kurt pulled away and swallowed again. "You did. I…you did."

"Then I'm glad you came here to Dalton," Blaine said, shoving his hands into his pockets because he needed to do something with them other than fidget. "I'm glad I saw you."

"I recognised your hair," Kurt explained. "You need to stop using so much gel."

"The curls are unmanageable," Blaine shrugged.

"The curls make you look better," Kurt commented.

"Fashion tip from Kurt Hummel?"

"You know it," Kurt giggled, opening his car door and pausing. "But…but truly, thank you."

"My phone is always available for your communication should you need it," he said again. Kurt reached for his arm, gave it a brief squeeze and then hopped into the car. Blaine was still reeling from the touch and barely even noticed when Kurt's car had disappeared out of the gates and was gone.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **For those of you who also follow _Who You Gonna Call?_, I apologise at how this fic has taken over my writing life this week. I'm up to twenty-seven thousand words in this fic already. I'm anticipating five parts of roughly seven thousandish words, but we'll see how that ends up going. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it!

As always, feedback is absolutely adored, particularly delving into something so AU and popular on Tumblr at the moment. See you all next chapter my lovelies! xx


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** A Sibling By Any Other Name  
><strong>Author:<strong> an-alternate-world  
><strong>Rating:<strong> M (starts mild, rating will go up in future chapters)  
><strong>CharactersPairings:** Blaine/Kurt  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 6,707  
><strong>Summary:<strong> When Blaine is forced into finding a new family, he never expected to meet the people he did. He never expected his life to turn out this way. He never expected to fall so hopelessly in love so early in life. He never expected any of this. AnderBerry siblings, eventual Klaine.  
><strong>WarningsSpoilers: **A vague re-writing of canon Glee, but there are some huge differences, which you'll see as you go along. Angst, fluff, a little bit of smut.  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I am in no way associated with _Glee, FOX_, Ryan Murphy or anything else related to the _Glee _universe.

* * *

><p>He wasn't sure when he'd expected to hear from Kurt. He still felt like the bumbling younger brother of Rachel and he knew Kurt had his own friends, even if they weren't really there for him. He'd texted Kurt "COURAGE" just after lunch time and hoped it might help him get through the day.<p>

Which was why seeing Kurt's name flashing across his screen just after classes let out surprised and concerned him.

"Kurt?"

"Oh my God, Blaine…_Blaine_…help…I…shit, God-"

He stopped in the middle of the hallway, Nick running into him as bodies swarmed in every direction to go to the dorms or go home. He could hear the ragged breathing and the choked sobs and the bubbling hysteria in Kurt's muttered curses was making Blaine panicky.

"What's happened? Are you okay? Jesus, Blaine, of course you're not okay, but are you safe?"

He felt Nick move in front of him, his hazel eyes piercing as Jeff hovered beside him.

"Kurt?"

"Shit. Blaine…fuck, okay, I…help? I need you? I'm sorry. I know it's a long d-drive but…please, please can you come?"

Blaine pushed past Nick and Jeff and joined the lagging students and headed for his car. It was rarely used but he had his permit, barely, and he fumbled with his phone as he pulled away from the school.

"Kurt, I need to know. Are you safe?" he repeated, cutting into Kurt's babbling monologue.

"Safe?"

He closed his eyes briefly because Kurt sounded so small and scared and God, what the hell had happened? "You haven't…you haven't _hurt _yourself have you? You aren't like, bleeding on the bathroom floor or something?"

Kurt's laugh was so broken and bitter that it did nothing to allay Blaine's fears.

"No, I'm in one piece. Not that it matters. Maybe I should. Maybe the pain wou-"

"Don't you even _dare_," he growled, speeding around a car that was going the speed limit which felt much too slow right now. "I don't want to get there and find you've hurt yourself, okay? You stay in one piece. You _stay _in one piece, Kurt."

Kurt snorted into the phone and Blaine bit his lip. "Kurt, look, I can't stay on the phone and drive at the same time. I'll see you as soon as I can, okay? Please, _please _take care of yourself until I get there."

"S-sure," Kurt mumbled and Blaine felt his heart swoop with worry.

"Kurt?"

"I'll curl up on my bed. I'll be fine. Drive safe."

Blaine stared at his phone briefly before tossing it onto the passenger seat and trying to drive as safely as he could while going as fast as he could. It still only cut twenty minutes off the two hour journey as he jumped from his car and sprinted up to Kurt's door.

"Kurt! I'm here! Let me in?" He pressed the doorbell multiple times and hopped from foot to foot as his stomach churned with anxiety.

The most glorious sound in the world was the locks clanking open and Kurt's eyes peeking out from behind the door.

"I won't hurt you," he reminded, trying to bottle up his own fears for Kurt's safety to recognise that Kurt was terrified again and he needed to slow himself down because tension was contagious.

Kurt cracked the door open wide enough for Blaine to slip inside and Kurt shut the door and twisted all the locks again.

"Kurt?"

Kurt shook his head and disappeared up the stairs. Frowning, Blaine toed off his shoes and followed him up the stairs, finding Kurt pressed against the headboard and clutching a pillow to his chest.

"Can I sit down on the bed, Kurt?" he asked, shuffling into the room.

Kurt eyed him like he was a stranger and Blaine felt his heart breaking all over again. Any success he'd made with Kurt days prior was lost in the latest bout of whatever had happened to Kurt at his school. Clearly frightened, Kurt gave the tiniest of nods and Blaine walked slowly to the bed, sitting on the edge as far from Kurt as he could get.

He wasn't sure what to do, because Kurt's unstoppable pleas and sobs from nearly two hours ago had left him wordless and trapped now that Blaine was here. So he looked at the carpet of Kurt's bedroom and started humming. He hummed _Teenage Dream _because it was on his mind and it had made Kurt happier the other day, and he remembered Rachel's complaints about Kurt trying to steal her solo of _Defying Gravity _so he started humming that next. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Kurt unfurled himself from around the blanket, his rigid posture abating as he listened, so Blaine kept going with whatever song he could think of that Kurt might like given his limited knowledge of the other boy and knowing that he basically clashed with Rachel over _everything_.

And somehow, he kept humming even as Kurt crawled over to him and looped his arms through one of Blaine's. His cheek brushed against the top of Kurt's hair as he kept humming, fingers outstretched as an offering to Kurt, and his heart fairly soared when Kurt clutched at his hand and held it against his heart like a child seeking comfort. Eventually his throat grew tired and he fell silent, letting Kurt breathe against him and feeling the indistinct thudding of Kurt's heart against the tip of his fingers that were nestled in the fabric of Kurt's shirt.

"He kissed me," Kurt whispered, so soft Blaine thought he had misheard. "The fucking Neanderthal kissed me and then he tried to kiss me again even as I stood there and was so terrified I couldn't breathe."

Blaine tried to keep breathing normally, tried to not belie how his whole body had seized up with rage.

"I guess I'm lucky there was no gym class last period because I had a panic attack on the floor of the locker room and I was so _scared_," he whimpered, fingers tightening around Blaine's unconsciously as he re-lived the fear. Blaine leaned in closer as much as he dared and tried to do what he could to make Kurt feel protected but not suffocated by his presence.

"When I… When I managed to calm myself down and retrieve my phone from where he'd tossed it in the corridor, your message was the first thing I saw and I was dialling it as I ran from the school." He tilted his face up and looked at Blaine, silent tears marring his face. "I didn't think you'd actually come."

Blaine pressed his lips against Kurt's forehead. "I'll always be here for you, okay? I'll always come if you need me."

Kurt smiled weakly before he sucked in a breath and broke into quiet sobs.

"Oh God, Kurt," Blaine breathed, wrapping his free arm around Kurt as securely as he could, cradling Kurt's body to his chest as he hummed nonsense tunes, anything to distract Kurt from whatever he was thinking.

"Did you just start humming _Mary Had A Little Lamb_?" Kurt giggled through his tears, wiping his eyes with the heel of his palm.

"I ran out of tunes that didn't have words I wanted to sing along to," Blaine mumbled, cheeks pink at Kurt gave a snuffly kind of snort.

"Sometimes I forget how young you are," Kurt teased as he wiggled his fingers in Blaine's grip.

"Yeah, I know. Those ten months between us really shows how I must be on the cusp of maturing into a grumpy, old teenager, rather than a joyous young one who still likes nursery rhymes."

Kurt giggled again and Blaine was glad the crying had stopped. It wasn't like Rachel's hysterics over nothing. It just made Blaine ache with sadness because someone as kind as Kurt, who was clearly so traumatised by his school, didn't deserve anything like this. It reminded him of how he felt for Eliza. He'd drop her a message when he got back to Dalton.

"Will you tell me who it was that kissed you?" Blaine asked quietly. Kurt froze, his grip on Blaine's hand suddenly tight to the point of hurting. "You don't have to," he said hurriedly, because the tension was back and oh God Blaine, way to put your foot in it.

"Karofsky," Kurt whispered. "He…he's one of the jocks. With Finn and Puck and Mike and Sam."

Blaine squeezed his eyes shut as he cuddled Kurt to him again. Where the _hell _were these supposed friends who played with this jerk and sang with Kurt? Why weren't they protecting him?

"Kurt, I…I want to ask you something and…and you can say no, but, I want you to know that I want to do this, okay?"

Kurt peered up at him, eyes red from crying and Blaine remembered a much younger Kurt, a Kurt who cried against Rachel's tummy because his mother had died and how jealous Blaine had been because he wanted to comfort Kurt. And here he was, comforting Kurt, and Blaine just felt broken because none of this was Kurt's fault and he just wanted to help him and fix him and it wasn't _fair_.

"I…I want to go to school with you tomorrow. I want to find this guy and try and talk with him. I wan-"

"He'll tear you apart!" Kurt interrupted, voice high as anxiety washed over him. "He's _huge_, Blaine. He told me not to tell! I don't know if he's gay! I don't care! You can't, you _can't_! If you got hurt-"

"I _won't_ get hurt," Blaine said, silencing Kurt with the softest of fingers to his lips. "I'll be okay. I _can _take care of myself. I just want to talk to him. That's all."

"But what if he-"

"We'll make sure it's somewhere public. Where people will see him, see _us_, and make sure that he won't do anything, okay?"

Kurt wasn't convinced but he couldn't say anything because he heard the rattle of his father's truck.

"My dad's home," he said, as if the doors slamming weren't enough for Blaine to figure out.

"I haven't seen him in a while. How's he doing?"

Kurt shrugged as he untangled himself from Blaine and inhaled deeply several times. "He hates the organic stuff we have to feed him on because of his heart attack earlier this year."

"I'm glad he's okay," Blaine said, touching Kurt's shoulder as they headed down the stairs to greet him.

"Hey Dad," Kurt said, too bright and too cheerful for Blaine after he'd been so upset and scared and crying. But Burt barely had eyes for his son as he saw Blaine behind Kurt.

"Aren't you Rachel's brother?"

"_Dad_," Kurt hissed.

"It's okay, Kurt," Blaine hushed him. "Yes. Blaine Anderson. I haven't seen you in a while, sir. I'm glad to hear your health is improving though."

Burt grunted as he handed some of the groceries to Kurt. "This whole wheat bread is disgusting. And I can't have salt on anything!"

Honestly, Blaine couldn't sympathise because he didn't think he'd ever had whole wheat bread and he wasn't a fan of adding salt. "That's terrible, Mr. Hummel. Although I'm sure if you follow the guidelines, you'll soon be able to enjoy what you usually like to eat."

Burt's gaze was narrowed as looked Blaine up and down and he recognised where Kurt got his intense examination skills from.

"So, what brings you to Lima?" he said finally as Blaine grabbed a couple of bags and headed for the kitchen. He heard the underlying meaning: _what brings you to my home?_

"I missed my sister and I heard Kurt was-" He saw Kurt's frantic face a fraction before the words spilled out. "I heard Kurt was needing some help with a Glee project so I thought I'd lend an ear to his ideas."

Burt glanced between Blaine and his son. "Didn't know you two knew each other that well," he said gruffly.

"Blaine's been part of the Dalton Glee choir for years," Kurt offered. "He's their soloist now."

"Huh, just like your sister then? Stealing the limelight?"

"_Dad_."

Blaine flushed, although it wasn't an entirely unfair comparison really. He _was _Rachel's brother. "We don't have a teacher who hands us solos on a silver platter every time. We have a council and we have to audition each time there's a solo up for grabs." He shrugged and handed a bag of apples to Kurt. "If they select me more times than they choose the other guys, then I'm just grateful for the opportunity."

Burt was staring at him again and he felt his neck heating up with nerves.

"You could teach your sister a thing or two about humility and sharing," he said with a hint of a smile.

"_Dad_."

Blaine snorted. "Honestly Mr. Hummel, I tried a long time ago to teach Rachel about sharing songs. It's part of why I refuse to attend the same school as her. I have to listen to her on the phone enough."

Burt started chuckling and Kurt's cheeks were pink. Blaine felt like he'd won some sort of award for hearing both Kurt and his father laugh in the same day given all the underlying tensions.

"You're alright, kid," Burt said with a firm pat to Blaine's shoulder.

Blaine felt slightly bewildered even as he smiled. "Well, thank you sir. It was nice seeing Kurt. I hope I helped but I need to get going home now. I think I'll stay there and head back to Dalton in the morning."

He caught Kurt's eye and Kurt gave a brief nod before turning away to start digging out ingredients for dinner.

"Safe trip, Blaine," Burt said, heading up the stairs to get changed out of his greasy overalls.

Kurt followed Blaine to the door and watched as he pulled on his shoes.

"Thank you. Again. It seems like all I do is cry on you and thank you," Kurt mumbled as he paused in the doorway while Blaine stood on the porch.

"If I've made you feel better Kurt, then you can cry on me and thank me as much as you need."

The edges of Kurt's lips twitched as he reached for Blaine's hand. Blaine slipped their fingers together and squeezed it briefly before Kurt pulled it back.

"I'll…see you in the morning?" Kurt asked nervously.

"You have a break, right? Like a recess? I'll be in my car in the parking lot. Come find me and then we'll see if we can find him, okay?"

Kurt nodded and Blaine gave his wrist a quick touch like Kurt had done the other day before shoving his hands in his pockets and heading down the walkway towards his car. He gave Kurt a wave and then climbed in, turning the key in the ignition and driving away.

* * *

><p>"Blaine? What the hell are you doing here? It's a week night!" Rachel shrieked, pulling him inside and closing the door behind him.<p>

"Blaine?"

"Hey Papa," he greeted, kissing his father on the cheek. "Dad working late?"

"Always," his father rolled his eyes and headed back to the kitchen.

"_Blaine_." Rachel stamped her foot. Always the centre of attention, that one.

"I missed you," he shrugged, deciding that he really didn't want to betray Kurt's trust. "I felt homesick and wanted to drop by."

"It's Tuesday. You could have come on the weekend!"

He shrugged again as he left his shoes by the door and went towards his bedroom. "Sometimes when you want something, you don't care when it is, you just go for it."

He shut the door in her frowning face and fell onto his bed with a sigh. He was going to McKinley tomorrow to face the sort of guys that had made him go to Dalton in the first place. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

* * *

><p>Both Kurt and Blaine slept fitfully that night, tormented by the possibilities that might occur when confronting Karofsky. Blaine was perhaps <em>more <em>anxious than Kurt, because he only had Kurt's word for how big the guy was and perhaps in his emotional state Kurt had exaggerated. Not that Blaine would ever say that to Kurt's face. It was just a feeling. And a fear.

Kurt was shaking when he tapped on the glass of Blaine's car. Blaine tried to take his hand but Kurt twitched away and Blaine let him. He knew McKinley was a homophobic environment. He knew Kurt was uncomfortable. He didn't want to pressure Kurt into something, even if it was just holding hands.

Kurt saw Karofsky on the staircase and Blaine tried to talk to him, but his fearfulness rose sharply when he was thrown into the fences. He could see Kurt's terror but he kept his composure and when the bully stormed away, he shuffled over to where Kurt was trembling with his arms around his knees.

"He's gone," Blaine murmured, holding his hand out steady for Kurt to see. Cautiously, Kurt slipped his fingers between Blaine's again and tucked it into his chest. "I'll buy you lunch, okay? Let's get away from here."

Kurt gave a wobbly sort of nod and let Blaine lead him out of the school and towards Blaine's car. He dropped Blaine's hand so Blaine could drive and they found a small café. Kurt picked at his salad and Blaine tore his sandwich into shreds and the silence screamed so loudly.

"I have Glee this afternoon," Kurt whispered finally as he stabbed at a piece of tomato.

"Do you actually want to go?"

"The other boys screwed up and now they have to sing for a teacher's forgiveness. We've had to change songs and choreography because of it," Kurt explained, staring at the salad as if it had offended him.

"Sounds ridiculous."

Kurt shrugged. "It is but…I still have to go back."

"Okay." Blaine managed to chew a mouthful and swallow it. "Do you want to just like, hang out at the park until practice?"

Kurt peered up at him. "You'd wait with me?"

"Sure," Blaine smiled. "Come on."

Kurt directed him to a park near the school and they sat in the car, watching the fiery leaves drift to the ground.

"Are you going to be okay?"

Kurt blinked at him. "No. And no one will care either."

"_I _care."

"No one at McKinley, then."

Blaine frowned. "I could talk to Ra-"

"Don't you _dare _talk to Rachel," Kurt interrupted. "Don't you dare. I've tried. I've tried talking to her and Mercedes. I've tried telling the boys. Nothing's happened. Nothing has mattered." He sounded so resigned it scared Blaine. "I won't be okay but I'll survive because that's what's expected of me."

"Kurt-"

"No, Blaine."

The silence in the car felt stifling as Blaine's eyes tracked falling leaves. Hearing Kurt's sniffle, he turned, alarmed, to see Kurt silently crying.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," Kurt sobbed, pulling at his hair. "I'm sorry. I didn't…no one's cared and I feel like I barely know you but you care, _you _care, and I'm just biting your head off and then you'll go an-"

"Go? Where am I going to go?"

"You'll _leave _me and I'll be alone again and-"

"Kurt, Kurt, _stop_," Blaine commanded, sliding his fingers between Kurt's and working his hands free from ripping tufts of hair out of Kurt's head. "Listen to me. _Look_ at me." Kurt gazed at him tearfully and there was such sadness and fear and desperation that Blaine's heart ached. "Kurt, I'm not going _anywhere_. I mean, sure, I have to go back to Dalton, but you still have my number. You know where I stay at Dalton. You know where I live when I'm back here at home with Rachel."

He squeezed Kurt's hands and released one, raising it as slowly as he could to Kurt's face. Kurt's forehead creased with worry before he closed his eyes, and he only shuddered a little when Blaine finally cupped his cheeks and wiped the tears away.

"You can try to push me away as much as you want, as much as you think you can," Blaine soothed. "But you forget I live with the most stubborn girl in the whole of Ohio. I've learned a thing or two about patience."

Kurt's eyes flickered open and he gave a weak smile, wrapping his hand around Blaine's wrist and tugging the hand off his face.

"I won't make you promise, but-"

"I promise, then," Blaine said. "I promise. I promise I'll always be here for you. I'll always be someone you can contact. I'll always be someone who will listen and care and come to Lima if you need me as much as you did yesterday."

Kurt didn't have any words as he stared at the honesty all over Blaine's face. His fingers shook faintly as he reached for Blaine's shirt and blazer and wrapped his arms around Blaine in an awkward hug over the centre console of Blaine's car. Blaine knew he shouldn't be smiling because Kurt was still in tears but Kurt had _hugged _him. Kurt had actually _approached _him without asking and _hugged _him! He felt like dancing, but he contained the desire and instead held Kurt as protectively as he could.

When Kurt left to return to school, Blaine felt like a part of him was going with Kurt. He just hoped that that part would give Kurt the strength to keep fighting and he hoped that maybe Karofsky would leave him alone now, for Kurt's sake more than anything else.

"Anytime, okay?" he reminded Kurt. Kurt nodded and squeezed his hand before getting out of the car and returning to the halls of horror, as Blaine had started thinking.

He didn't hear from Kurt for a couple of weeks, but he did get several hysterical calls from Rachel about their choir director being sick and a substitute who kept trying to shake things up. Then the sub performed a song with Rachel and Rachel was her new biggest fan. Blaine rolled his eyes, itching to ask his sister how Kurt seemed to be doing because whenever they'd hang out – he'd managed to get tickets to _Rent _last week and had dinner with Kurt and Mercedes a few days prior – Kurt kept deflecting the conversation to be about Glee club and the songs they were performing. But Blaine knew if he started asking after Kurt, she would start asking both Blaine and Kurt questions that neither wanted to face right now so he kept his mouth shut and listened to her raving about the latest monstrosity she'd heard by this substitute.

He was floating on the idea that no news was good news, until he got a text from Kurt late Wednesday afternoon after Warbler practice. He laughed at something Thad was saying as he took out his phone, before he stopped breathing at the words printed across the screen.

'_He says he'll kill me if I tell anyone else. Why not save him the trouble?_'

He could hear some of the boys yelling after him as he darted out of the room, finger pressing at the stupid screen to dial Kurt's number. And it rang and rang and rang and he knew Kurt had only just sent the text but he didn't answer the phone. Blaine's heart started to nurse his stomach with how far it had sunk as he tried again, but again Kurt ignored him.

Frantic, he dialled his sister.

"Blaine? What-"

"Rachel? Where are you?" he interrupted.

"At school preparing for a number we're doing with Holly and Schue. Why?"

"Is Kurt with you?"

"Kurt?" He could hear the confusion in her voice and the talking of students in the background. He raised his eyes to the ceiling, a silent prayer. "Yeah, he's here. Looks a little distant but he's standing by Sam and Mike."

Blaine released the breath he hadn't even realised he was holding. "Can you put him on, Rach? I need to have a word with him."

"With Kurt? I didn't know you two were close."

"Just put him on, Rachel," he ground out. She huffed and he could hear movement as he slid down a wall and tucked his knees to his chest.

"Hello?"

"What the _fuck _sort of a message was that to send someone and then not answer the phone?"

"Blaine, I-"

"No, don't you say you're sorry, Kurt. _Don't_. Jesus, I thought I'd have to start speeding to Lima and stop you from slitting your wrists or jumping off a bridge or something," he said, wiping at his eyes roughly. "You don't get to make…make statements like that in a text and then not answer the phone, okay? Because I'm going to think the worst and I'm going to freak out and next time you might not be with Rachel and I can't stand the panic I felt in waiting to hear your voice."

"I'm not that important though."

Blaine choked on his words. "Not that…? God, Kurt. You're _so _important. You're fast becoming one of my best friends. Please don't _ever _think that."

He heard the voices in the background quieten and then a door press closed. "Sorry, I needed to get away from them."

"It's…it's fine. What…did your text mean? He's threatened to kill you?"

"Y-yeah, this morning. He said if I told anyone else, he'd…he'd…" Kurt's voice caught and Blaine wished he could teleport to Kurt's side and hold him.

"I know what he said, but Kurt, you _have _to tell someone. You can't walk around the school with a death threat over your head."

"I know that in my head but I'm so_ scared_," Kurt whimpered, and Blaine squeezed his eyes shut because he knew what Kurt's face must look like and he felt so useless sitting here in a Dalton corridor.

"Can you come here maybe? Like, transfer?"

"We don't have that sort of money, Blaine. Dad's still paying off his medical bills a-and I can't just leave Glee club a few weeks before Sectionals."

"Have you told any of them?"

"God no."

Blaine sighed and chewed his lip. He was out of options. He knew he should tell someone, he should tell anyone, but the only person he really knew from the group was Kurt and Rachel and more recently Mercedes. And Mercedes had been clearly disinterested in anything Kurt had to say the other night.

"Blaine, I-I need to go. We're performing a mash-up thing. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he whispered, running a hand across his gelled hair. "It's okay. Just…don't send me a message like that again. Not something that could be read as a suicide message, okay? Unless you actually _want _me to panic so badly I can't breathe."

"Sorry."

Blaine wished he could soothe it away with cuddles but Kurt was just too far away. "It's okay," he said again. "I'll talk to you soon, okay? Keep me in the loop."

"I will." Kurt sniffled and Blaine's heart hurt again. "Thank you for caring."

Before Blaine could respond, Kurt had already clicked off the call and he was left clutching his phone uselessly and tapping his fingers on his knees.

"Everything okay?"

He just about jumped out of his skin. "Not really, no," he replied as Wes sat beside him. "But there's nothing much I can do."

"I overheard the part about the suicide message," Wes cringed. "Sorry. You just left so fast and…is it someone here? Is someone in danger?"

Blaine stared at his hands. "No, it's not someone here. As to the other part…I don't know. I honestly don't know, Wes. Someone I know got kissed against his wishes and today the person responsible made a death threat. So he's sort of upset."

"Jesus," Wes breathed. His hand covered Blaine's anxiously moving fingers and gripped it hard. "What are you going to do?"

"There's nothing I _can _do. He won't tell anyone at his school because he's too scared."

Wes nodded. "It's understandable. If you need someone, you can talk to me, okay?"

Blaine smiled tiredly. "Thanks Wes. Do you mind if I skip the rest of rehearsal today? My emotions at the moment…"

"It's fine. Go back to the dorms. I'll see you tomorrow at lunch, okay?"

Blaine nodded and Wes pulled him to his feet. "Thanks."

"Don't do this alone," Wes said firmly.

Blaine nodded again and wandered back to his dorm in a daze. Kurt's life had been threatened. What on earth was he meant to do now?

* * *

><p>He heard through one of Rachel's many calls that Kurt's father was getting married to Finn's mother, which explained the lack of calls and texts from Kurt in the past week. Rachel told him how Kurt was throwing the wedding together as fast as he could, although she wasn't sure why, and that the Glee club were going to perform songs.<p>

And oh, how he wanted to be there, except he was singing several solos at a concert the Warblers were doing at a retirement home. Rachel was disappointed but not half as much as Kurt would be when he heard through her that Blaine wasn't going to attend.

He then got a call a few days later saying that the other boys in Glee who were on the football team had tried to take on Karofsky. Sam was sporting a black eye but Karofsky seemed to have backed off a little even though Kurt seemed more distracted than usual, but Rachel babbled that it was probably just wedding planning, and wasn't it exciting that Kurt and Finn were going to be _brothers_?

And then he got the call from Rachel he'd been dreading, shrieking about how Burt had bailed up Karofsky in the corridor and Kurt had told Finn that his life had been threatened. She was hysterical and he had difficulty getting a word in to say it was going to be okay, but it would be okay, because he knew now that Burt was aware of it, Mr Hummel could take care of Kurt and the situation. He told Wes later how relieved he was, because it meant that the burden was no longer only his, and Wes had rubbed his back and shared his sentiments. Blaine hadn't been able to tell Rachel he already knew about the threat, because he was sure she would either explode on the phone or turn up at Dalton and then explode in his face and he'd had enough explosions out of his sister to last him several lifetimes.

It was while he was singing at the retirement home and instead thinking of the wedding that was taking place that the most absurd notion occurred to him. He faltered in his steps and David grabbed for him but he was okay and standing and kept singing because if Rachel had taught him one thing, _the show must go on_. He pushed the unbidden thought from his mind for as long as he could, greeting the old people and smiling and chatting with them for what felt like hours about their life stories and some were truly fascinating but Blaine honestly just wanted to check out mentally and think more about the thought he'd had in the middle of his song.

"You alright?" Wes asked Blaine as he boarded the bus.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm…just, just a moment of distraction," he said, taking his seat and dumping his bag on the seat beside him because he needed to be left alone. The other boys recognised the sign and found other seats away from him as he stared out the window at the passing scenery.

If Finn's mother married Kurt's father, and then Rachel married Finn, that would make Kurt and him brothers-in-law, right? His eyes widened at the implications of what would seem like marrying his _brother _if he was ever interested in Kurt and shook the thoughts clear out of his head. No, he needed to look after Kurt, needed to give Kurt the strength to fight back and survive his adolescence and mature into an adult who was truly fabulous. He didn't love Kurt and he certainly wasn't going to marry him.

How ridiculous.

* * *

><p>When Nick roused him early the following Saturday morning, Blaine had half a mind to tell the brunette that he was going to have his throat cut when Blaine was more awake and a knife was more available.<p>

"New kid! Down the corridor. Come on, come _on_," Nick said, tugging Blaine clean out of his bedroom in his sweats and t-shirt. At least he'd slept in something more than his boxers last night, he supposed. They hadn't had a new student move in for a while, never in the middle of the year, and never on the weekend. A mass of students had formed around the door to the empty dorm room and Blaine stood on his tip-toes to try and see over everyone, even though it was stupid because he was _still _shorter than everyone else by several inches.

"Don't you all have beds to be sleeping in or something? It's nine on a Saturday!"

Blaine knew that voice!

He pushed forward, ignoring the yelps and grunts as he squeezed through the crowd.

"Mr Hummel!"

Kurt's father stared at him for a moment before recollection flickered in his eyes. "Blaine, right? Rachel's brother?"

"Yes sir," Blaine dipped his head as he shooed some of his dorm mates away. "Kurt's coming to Dalton?"

Burt sighed and took his cap off his head to rub at the scattering of hair that remained. "Did you know about the bullying?"

"I-" Blaine waved his hands at the lingering boys who scowled and headed back to their rooms. "I had a little bit of an idea, yes."

Burt eyed him critically but didn't challenge him. "There was a kid who threatened his life. I found out a couple of weeks ago and took it up with the school. The principal expelled him but it got turned over yesterday because no one actually _witnessed _the threat," Burt scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, the other kid is a hundred pounds more than my son and several inches taller. There's clearly _something _more going on and Kurt's terrified."

"So Ka- Kurt's coming here?" Blaine amended.

Burt caught the slip but again, didn't question it. "Couldn't let my son stay at a school he was scared of," he grunted. "Do you want to come in? He should have unpacked a few things by now."

Blaine nodded quickly and Burt opened the door. Kurt stood with his hands on his hips as he sorted books onto a shelf.

"Kurt, you have-"

Kurt turned around and saw Blaine, then started hopping over his things and flinging his arms around him. "I'm so sorry I didn't keep you in the loop. Dad got married and it's been so crazy and-"

"Shhhh," Blaine whispered, arms encircling Kurt's waist and rubbing his back gently. "It's okay. I've had vague updates from Rachel and your father told me a few things outside."

Kurt breathed into his neck and Blaine thought it was so nice that Kurt hadn't needed to adjust to him before touching him. It made for a nice change.

Burt cleared his throat and Blaine realised he'd completely forgotten that Kurt's father was in the room. He blushed crimson as Kurt pulled back.

"Just a friend, huh?" Burt asked, eyebrow raised.

Kurt looked at Blaine nervously before meeting his father's eye. "Blaine's been supportive of me and things that have been happening the past couple months, where New Directions failed to listen."

Burt's gaze softened slightly before he made a gruff sort of noise and looked back at Kurt's things. "Are you going to be okay with this?"

"You know I can't stay in Lima for now, Dad," Kurt murmured, eyes darting between his father and the floor.

"I know, I know, I just…my baby boy has never been so far away," Burt muttered, moving over to Kurt and touching his shoulders. Blaine saw the wince but he didn't think Burt did. "I'm expectin' you to keep an eye out for him, alright? And _no _funny business!"

"_Dad!_"

Blaine smiled and held his hand out to Burt. "I'll do my best sir. With keeping an eye out, I mean."

Kurt's entire face was flushed and Blaine thought it looked quite adorable. Burt glanced between them before gripping Blaine's hand so tightly Blaine thought he might have some broken fingers.

He kept his face carefully neutral as Burt grunted and gave his son a hug before Kurt followed his father to the car, leaving Blaine in Kurt's new room. He pulled out his phone and hit his sister's number.

"You could have_ told _me Kurt was coming here," he hissed when she picked up.

"I thought you would have already known!"

"I got pulled out of bed this morning by a friend and heard Burt's voice! I had no idea!"

He heard her burst into tears and immediately felt terrible. "Oh God, Blaine. I feel so awful! I wasn't there for him nearly enough lately!" she sobbed, and Blaine felt at least a little cheered by the fact she acknowledged her faults. "And so close to Sectionals! How are we going to win now without him? He harmonises with my voice so well!" Or not.

"Rachel, this isn't about the competition right now!" he said, striding across the room to stare out Kurt's window. He had a pretty nice view of the grounds and Blaine hoped Kurt would find it as soothing as Blaine did to just sit and stare at nature sometimes.

"I _know _it's not! I can't believe they let that mammoth come back! I can't believe he threatened Kurt's life and basically got away with it! He chased Kurt away, Blaine!" she babbled through her tears.

"I know Rach, I know. But Kurt's here now and you know he'll be safe at Dalton. I'll take care of him an-"

"You'd _better _take care of him," she snapped.

"You _know _I will, Rachel. I'll keep him company and introduce him to Nick and Jeff and Wes. He'll be okay here. You look after your competition woes and I'll take care of your friend."

"Way to make me sound shallow, Blaine."

He bit his tongue at the last moment and forced a smile. "Sometimes you have very questionable motives."

"And what's _that_ meant to mean?"

"Look Rach, I have to go. Help Kurt settle in, all that sort of thing. I'll talk to you soon. Say hi to Finn for me!"

He hung up quickly and shoved his phone back in his pocket.

"She's more concerned about Sectionals than me leaving, huh?" Kurt asked quietly from the doorway. Blaine jumped in shock and whirled around. "It doesn't surprise me. She's always been a bit insane and now she won't have me competing for her solos."

"Kurt-"

Kurt shut the door and sighed. "It's okay, you don't need to make excuses for your sister."

"I'm not like her."

Kurt smiled weakly as he crawled onto his bed. "I know you're not. You actually care."

"I'm glad you're starting to recognise that," Blaine replied as he wandered over to Kurt and sat on the edge of the bed. He slowly raised his hand and brushed Kurt's hair back off his face, Kurt managing to not cringe away.

"Can I….ask you to do something for me?" Kurt asked as he blinked up at Blaine.

"I suppose it depends on the demand," Blaine reasoned, although he knew he'd struggle to deny Kurt anything.

"Can you just…can you hold me? Please?"

Blaine saw the vulnerability all over Kurt's face and even though he felt like it was incredibly intimate, he nodded, shifting until he lay down beside Kurt. Kurt rolled over and Blaine pressed up behind him, linking their fingers together. Once again, Kurt held it against his heart where Blaine could feel the thrumming beat and Kurt breathed in deeply.

"Thank you," he murmured.

Blaine squeezed at the hand he was holding gently. "Anytime."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I am so completely blown away by the continual support of my fabulous reviewers. If you don't login for your review so I can't reply to it, let it be known that I would be sending you messages of thanks as well. To those who favourited this after only a chapter, _wow_, thank you! To those who put this on alert, I am so blessed you think it's worth reading more of this story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope Rachel isn't continued to be hated too much for her faults as a child and being a meddling sister!

Thank you so much to everyone reading. I am truly, trully blessed and so thankful. I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas had a wonderful time - and if you didn't, then I'm sending you my thoughts and some snuggles. Love always xx


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** A Sibling By Any Other Name  
><strong>Author:<strong> an-alternate-world  
><strong>Rating:<strong> M (starts mild, rating will go up in future chapters)  
><strong>CharactersPairings:** Blaine/Kurt  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 7,119  
><strong>Summary:<strong> When Blaine is forced into finding a new family, he never expected to meet the people he did. He never expected his life to turn out this way. He never expected to fall so hopelessly in love so early in life. He never expected any of this. AnderBerry siblings, eventual Klaine.  
><strong>WarningsSpoilers: **A vague re-writing of canon Glee, but there are some huge differences, which you'll see as you go along. Angst, fluff, a little bit of smut.  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I am in no way associated with _Glee, FOX_, Ryan Murphy or anything else related to the _Glee _universe.

The concept of a solo for Sectionals had thrown Kurt into a complete nervous spin. Blaine really wanted Kurt to do well, but as he watched him singing _Don't Cry For Me Argentina_, he couldn't help feeling terribly sad. He knew Kurt had consulted with Rachel – Blaine presumed because Kurt saw him as competition – and it showed, because it was such a _Rachel _song. More than that, it was such a _McKinley _song sung by Kurt's old Glee club. Blaine knew Kurt was never going to get selected with that song and he hoped that if they made it as far as Regionals, Blaine would have educated Kurt on _proper _song selection that would meet the Council's ridiculous and strict guidelines. Had Kurt even _read_ the Warbler constitution?

Kurt took the denial well, although Blaine hated giving him the news. He could see in Kurt's face that it was just another time he'd been turned down and it didn't seem fair but he agreed with the council that it wasn't a Warbler song.

Regardless, Blaine enjoyed Kurt being around. As Kurt's anxiety about his safety relaxed, he became more like his old self with snappy retorts and smiles. There were less tears and less states of panic. It had only been a few weeks and already Kurt was gaining strength in himself again, and Blaine felt like a proud parent as Kurt interacted with the other boys and didn't immediately shrink back when Nick touched his shoulder one time. He also found completing his French homework was far easier with Kurt around, although he would never admit to abusing Kurt's language skills. Because he had nothing to offer Kurt in return for the academic assistance, he tried to teach Kurt about the Warblers and their history, as well as catching Kurt up on some of the standard songs they performed when they went to nursing homes. Another little secret Blaine would never admit? He had insisted on the task with the council because he'd heard Kurt sing a handful of times and wanted a blatant excuse to hear Kurt sing more.

Rachel's calls were more frequent as the competition loomed closer, going completely mental as she shrieked about her lack of solo. Blaine listened patiently and wanted to explain that maybe it was a chance for her to admire the other talents in the group, except pacifying Rachel's lack of solo when Blaine was well-aware he was the one with the vocal lead felt like a ridiculous contradiction, so he kept his mouth shut. At times, Blaine was convinced he could hear Rachel within the walls of Dalton, screeching from Lima. With the amount she worked on her belting technique and projection, it wouldn't surprise him if she was approaching that sort of frequency in her voice.

Her calls did tell Blaine one thing though – that New Directions was trying something else. He talked it over with Kurt and then the rest of the Warblers, feeling that if their biggest competitors were shaking it up, the Warblers had to at least match it. The council was wary of changing things too close to the competition but he knew he had Wes' ear and Wes finally talked David and Thad around into at least allowing some adjustments. It would be absurd to drop out of the competition so early if they remained stalwarts to old favourites .

When the morning finally dawned, there was a drizzle against Blaine's window and he scowled, because it was always a mood destroyer when the weather was miserable.

Being awarded a tie was probably the best result Blaine could have hoped for. He was impressed with the dancing during _Valerie _and when he looked sidelong at Wes, David and Thad, they inclined their heads in a clear display that yes, they should have listened to Blaine more. Rachel came running over to him backstage, squealing and throwing her arms around his neck as she tackled him. Kurt snorted and Blaine patted his sister on the back.

"I suppose congratulations are in order," Kurt said diplomatically.

"Oh my God, isn't it _wonderful_ getting to perform again at Regionals?" Rachel grinned, squeezing Kurt into a hug. "I mean, if Schue had let me sing lead, we _definitely_would have won but I suppose he makes mistakes sometimes too. Quinn isn't nearly as vocally talented as I am and-"

"That's _lovely_, Rachel," Blaine interrupted smoothly when he saw Kurt trying to keep his face neutral. "But we need to get back to Dalton for the post-competition party and I think I saw Wes making gestures at me earlier so we need to be going."

Kurt covered his smile and kissed Rachel's cheek as he darted away to join Nick and Jeff. Blaine gave his sister a hug before joining the other Warblers, rolling his eyes at Kurt as they left the backstage area and headed for the bus.

The end of Sectionals meant the approach of Christmas and New Year. Jeff had tried holding a sprig of mistletoe above Blaine and Kurt but Kurt had beaten the game by kissing Blaine's cheek. Blaine knew he'd blushed and Jeff and Nick had teased him about it for _days_ until David tried the same mistletoe trick and Blaine made sure he kissed Kurt this time. Kurt gazed at him, speechless, his fingers touching the spot on his cheek that suddenly felt like it was on _fire_ before he turned around and ran back to his dorm room.

"Well, that wasn't quite what I was expecting," David admitted with confusion.

Kurt shyly exchanged Christmas cards with Blaine, his neat penmanship scrawled across the card. It felt like a generic message, and yet the little heart after the "Thank you for everything" made Blaine's own heart do funny things.

He got a text from Kurt just after midnight on New Year and smiled as he sent his own one back. He tried not to wonder why it took him five minutes to decide whether adding an 'x' was too flirty or not for friends. It was a sign of affection, right? Except Blaine was male and gay and Kurt was male and gay and he didn't want Kurt to get the wrong message. So he ended up backspacing over the 'x' and sent a smiley face instead.

"So Valentine's Day is coming up soon."

He sighed and put down his pen. "_So,_ Rachel?"

"Just wondering if you had anything planned," she sing-songed over the phone.

He glanced at his bedside table where a framed picture of Kurt sat smiling back at him. Well, a framed picture of the two of them covered in flakes of snow after an epic snowball fight with Rachel and Finn, but that wasn't the point. All he saw in the picture was Kurt, flushed with exertion and the cold, and grinning, more free and happy than Blaine had seen him in…well, a long time.

"No Rach, I don't have anything planned."

"Not even with someone you like, such as Kurt?"

He choked on the saliva he'd been swallowing and gasped for air for several minutes. "W-what?"

"You heard me," she said dismissively, and he could just imagine her filing her nails to pretend she was totally disinterested while secretly she was analysing his every word and expression.

"I don't like Kurt."

"And I haven't been in love with Finn since I was eight or nine years old," she sighed. "Look, I've seen the way you focus on him. You've always had a _thing_ for him when he was in the room but it's been stronger since he moved to Dalton. Or maybe since you found out he was being bullied. I know how much you like protecting injured baby birds."

"That was _one _time," he whined.

"And yet you would text me every time Charlie would seem more at ease with you than anyone else," she replied and Blaine pouted at his homework even though she couldn't see him through the phone. "And it wasn't one time. Have you forgotten the kittens you used to bring home? Or how you tried reviving Mrs Lacey's goldfish when you saw it had died?"

He wanted to say no but he remembered giving mouth-to-mouth to a fish at nine years of age and knew he couldn't deny it.

"I don't like Kurt," he repeated.

"Right, right," she said. "Well, just make sure you make that clear to him _before _Valentine's Day because otherwise your coffee dates with him will slow down and he'll be shooting you death glares for breaking his heart."

"He doesn't-"

"Blaine, just trust me on this?"

"Rachel, are you _trying _to set me up with your childhood best friend?" he asked suspiciously.

"No!" she sniffed derisively. "_But_, I know that you two are both really sweet boys so…"

"Sweet?" He gagged on the word. "You don't describe boys as _sweet_, Rachel. Even gay ones."

She laughed. "Just take care of my Kurt, okay?"

"I'm your _brother_, shouldn't I be more important?"

"I want to say something about blood is thicker than water and you'll always be more important except we aren't _actually _related and-"

"Rachel, shut up before I start driving there to strangle you."

"Okay, okay!" she laughed again. "Just…I don't know. Kiss him or give him chocolates or something."

"_Kiss_ him?" he squeaked. "Rachel!"

"You know, you pucker your lips and-"

"OKAY, enough!" He really needed to get her off the phone.

"Bye, baby brother!" she cooed.

He rolled his eyes. "Bye big sister who is actually shorter than me!"

"Hey!" she shrieked, but he'd already ended the call.

He fell back onto his pillows, phone discarded by his Geometry homework. Was Kurt actually interested in him? He reached out and traced his finger over Kurt's smiling face in the photograph. It was a nice fantasy, but that's all it was. A fantasy.

As covertly as he could, Blaine tried to watch Kurt and analyse the way he moved and the way he acted when with people other than Blaine. But it was difficult, because Blaine felt like his body was glowing when Kurt was talking with him and he struggled to concentrate on the intricacies of _how_ Kurt was and just focused on what he liked, which was everything. Kurt's voice washed over him in melodic waves, his eyes penetrated Blaine's soul, his smile healed the scattered pieces of Blaine's heart from months earlier when Kurt had been so broken and crying against his chest.

It was a few days before the fateful day of hideous pink and red when Kurt asked the bombshell question.

"How did you come to be adopted by Rachel's dads?"

They'd been quietly doing homework on Blaine's bed and Blaine hadn't even noticed that Kurt was studying him rather than his History essay.

"I-" He frowned and leaned back. "Why the sudden interest?"

"I've always been interested," Kurt said, fidgeting with his pencil. "I just…never felt like I knew you well enough to ask."

Blaine shoved his work away and curled up by the window seat, watching late-season snow swirling outside.

"Blaine?"

"I don't…" He tightened his hands into fists and tried to relax. "I don't talk about my life before Rachel."

"But-"

"Leave it, Kurt," he snapped, guilt surging through him when he saw Kurt's cringe. "Kurt, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, whatever," Kurt said, shaking his head and gathering his books.

"Kurt-"

"Leave it, Blaine," Kurt said, tone matching Blaine's from before. He slammed the door shut behind him and the bang echoed through Blaine's room. He curled into a ball, knees tucked against his chest as he stared out the window, silent tears staining his jeans.

He ignored Rachel's calls and texts to the point that he turned his phone off. He knew it would annoy her but he simply couldn't deal with her anger over the situation right now. Kurt avoided him, returning home over the weekend and locking his door when he was in his room. He skipped two Warbler rehearsals – to Wes' annoyance – and made sure that someone was always with him whenever Blaine saw him from a distance. His heart ached all over again and he wondered if he had damaged his friendship with Kurt beyond repair.

When a week had passed and the photo by Blaine's bed mocked him with its joy and freedom, he took out a notebook and started writing. There were things crossed out and tear smudges and a few balled up pieces of paper, but he got it out and it felt like he'd just ripped his soul into pieces. He tore the pages from the notebook and folded it into an envelope. He stared at it briefly but he'd made the decision as he left his room and walked down the corridor to Kurt's room. He knew it was pointless to knock because he'd _tried _so instead he shoved the envelope under the door and hoped Kurt would at least do him the courtesy of reading it.

He went back to his room, changing into sweats and a t-shirt and climbing into the bed, emotionally spent. The snow in the photo by his bed glowed in the dim light and he slammed it down so he didn't have to see it and switched off the light, tears trickling down his face and onto the pillow he clutched beneath his head.

He slept fitfully until he woke from the nightmare, dazedly readjusting himself to his surroundings and realising he'd been awoken by a persistent knock on the door. Flicking his lamp on, he shuffled over to the door and cracked it open.

"I'm _so_ sorry," Kurt whispered, cheeks stained with tears as his fingers shook with the paper in his hands. "I'm sorry. Blaine, if I'd known, I _never_-"

"I was wrong," Blaine said, opening the door and returning to his bed. Kurt followed him inside nervously and shut the door behind him. "I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I said I'd never get mad at you and I did, and I was wrong."

"But-"

"Kurt, stop, please? I was at fault and I admit that freely."

Kurt placed the paper on Blaine's desk and then hesitantly crawled into the bed next to Blaine. Trembling, he held his hand out to Blaine in a silent plea. Blaine's eyes met Kurt's and he was sliding his fingers between the nimbler fingers of Kurt's hand, each of them breaking into sobs. Kurt knew Blaine needed it, he needed to grieve, and he held Blaine's body snug to his as Blaine cried against him.

Slowly, Blaine's tears slowed and his breathing returned to a more normal pace.

"Sometimes I forget what they look like," he mumbled as Kurt petted his hair. "Sometimes I realise I can't remember what their voices sounded like, or the layout of our house. I don't remember if I had grandparents but I guess I mustn't have because I was taken into care so quickly. But I…Kurt, I can't remember my parents' _faces_."

"You were so _young_," Kurt soothed, nails scraping through his curls and it was so incredibly relaxing to be taken care of like this. "Your memory was only just starting to develop. It's not surprising."

"But they were my mom and dad," he whimpered, biting his hand to stop a fresh wave of tears.

"I was older than you when my mother died," Kurt replied. "And I forget her voice sometimes. I forget her face. But I have pictures. I have my dad to remind me. I have her old dresser which smells of her perfume when she broke a bottle." His fingers coiled into Blaine's hair and then released, over and over. "It's not wrong to forget."

Blaine sniffled and Kurt's hand cupped the back of his neck and squeezed gently, a reassurance that it was okay, that he wasn't alone. Blaine wondered when Kurt had gotten so strong against his demons.

"I never knew," he said, frowning as he tried to centre on the memories.

"Never knew?"

"That they were addicts," Blaine explained. "I didn't know…I didn't know that all the…the _stuff _in the kitchen was them cooking shit. I don't know what they used to do. I think an explosion like the one that ripped through our house must have been meth or something. When I asked my dads a few years ago, they said that all they knew was that they'd been found together in the living room and it looked like they might have been sleeping. They never would have known what happened. They were just…gone. Just like that."

"Oh Blaine…" Kurt breathed.

"And I-" His voice caught as tears rolled down his cheeks. "I'd been thinking such awful things going to school because they hadn't f-fed me. I thought it was my fault. I went to so many different schools and homes but no one _ever_ asked me if I was okay. It was like they were trying to make me forget I'd had my own family ripped away from me." Kurt's grip tightened and he struggled to stay coherent. "What if there is karma? Or fate? What if thinking bad things makes them happen?"

"Blaine, no…"

"But what if, Kurt?" Blaine hiccupped as he raised his head off Kurt's chest to look at him. "What if it was my fault because secretly I hated them and wanted better parents?"

Kurt shook his head, thumbs wiping the tears on Blaine's face and cradling his cheek and jaw. "You are _not_ responsible for having two parents who used volatile chemicals to cook drugs which exploded."

"But-"

"You are _not_, Blaine," Kurt said, voice firm as his eyes stared into Blaine's. "Listen to me. For once in your life, listen to _me_ and not the thoughts in your head. It's _not_your fault."

"But it's happened again!" he insisted. "I used to feel jealous of Rachel and you playing and then your mom died and-"

Kurt sucked in a breath and released it shakily. "Blaine, those are just awful, _awful_ coincidences." He sat up, pushing Blaine up with him. "I remember when you moved in with Rachel. I remember because she came running into class on the Monday and she was screaming and I couldn't understand anything other than 'brother', and I kept wondering how her fathers had had a child, because it'd been explained to me that only mothers had babies, and neither of her fathers had had a pregnant stomach when I'd been over there."

Blaine smiled through his tears at Kurt's childish innocence. "But what I also remember is that my mother had been sick for long before you were adopted by Rachel and her fathers. I remember celebrating my seventh birthday holding her hand in the hospital," he said, eyes dropping to stare at his hands in his lap. "I remember telling my kindergarten class when I was sick that my mom couldn't come to Parent Day because she couldn't get out of bed very well."

His gaze flickered back up to Blaine's face and unshed tears sparkled in his eyes. "She was so sick for so long that I used to wish she would die because I knew she was in so much pain and I just wanted her to be at peace."

"Oh God…" Blaine whimpered.

"And when she died…"

"You blamed yourself," Blaine finished and Kurt nodded tearfully. "That's why you didn't smile for so long or sing. Because you thought you were to blame."

"And that's why I know _you_ aren't to blame," Kurt said. "Because I know _I'm_ not to blame either. My mother was so incredibly sick and there's no one to blame except nature or fate or whatever it was that gave her that illness which killed her. And neither _your_ thoughts _or_ mine were responsible for that." Kurt reached for Blaine's hand and held it tightly. "Just like _your _thoughts weren't responsible for your parents dying because they produced drugs."

Blaine felt like he suddenly weighed three hundred pounds less as Kurt's words seeped into parts of his psyche that were so damaged by guilt. Kurt's strength and determination had managed to heal wounds he'd forgotten existed because he ignored them and squashed them down and covered them over with flimsy protection.

Kurt's thumb rubbed over the back of his hand and he found himself staring at Kurt's eyes and unable to look away. Even as Kurt blushed under the sudden intensity, Blaine thought it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. And then he realised what Rachel had meant, _why_ she'd been trying to push them together for Valentine's Day, because apparently he _did_ have feelings for Kurt and he'd been so caught up in old guilt and fears that he'd been utterly blind to what was biting him in the face.

"Blaine?"

"Kurt, I…" The words died in his throat. What if Kurt didn't feel the same way? What if it was just a really good friendship to Kurt and he messed it all up? "I think I need to sleep," he said, turning away and laying back down. "Do you…do you want to join me or-"

Kurt cut him off by placing a hand over his mouth and sliding beside him. His fingers laced with Blaine's and Blaine understood why Kurt held their hands to his heart all the time, because it felt so intimate and sacred and comforting.

Kurt cuddled behind him, humming softly until Blaine's thoughts settled and he couldn't stay awake any longer.

"Silly Blaine," Kurt murmured, kissing Blaine's hair and snuggling closer. "Goodnight."

The weeks blurred together as Blaine did an awkward dance around his feelings regarding Kurt, constantly questioning what was too much or inappropriate and what would seem out of character for him given how friendly he'd always been with Kurt. He felt exhausted at the end of every day from the constant over-analysing and one night when he tossed and turned with frustration, he found himself grabbing his laptop from underneath the bed and turning it back on.

He found the website he'd abandoned months ago and typed out his login details, glad he hadn't missed any messages and quickly checking Eliza's recent activity.

He was pleased to see that she'd found someone, although she seemed to feel the same way as he did as to whether the feelings were returned or not. In fact, some of her feelings were so familiar Blaine felt like they were living parallel lives. Her heart ached as his did, and he found himself composing a message to her asking her what to do, asking her if it was better to know and potentially spoil the friendship, or keep it trapped inside and run your mind in circles trying to figure it all out.

He felt better getting it out and telling a stranger, someone that was far away and couldn't judge him for it. If he'd gone to Wes, Nick, Jeff or any of the other boys, they'd have teased him for the rest of his life. And it was already pretty bad. He stared blankly at the screen for a few minutes after he'd sent the message before switching everything off and sleeping restlessly.

"So, Regionals is swiftly approaching. We need a game plan. I hereby open this meeting and the floor for suggestions," Wes said, gavel falling on the chock of wood.

Silence fell over the room as the boys debated what to say or do.

"We need something different," Kurt spoke up, cheeks pink as his fingers fiddled with the hem of his blazer. "We need something that's going to make us stand out from New Directions. I know them. I know Rachel. She's going to take the leads this time and she's going to do show-stoppers that will have people on their feet and chanting her name." He rolled his eyes and Blaine smothered his smile. "We need to do more than just a side-shuffle two-step. We need to do more than just being back-up to Blaine all the time. We need to challenge the audience and show them the full extent of the talent we have here."

A few boys nodded in agreement and Blaine felt a bubble of pride in his chest at how diplomatic Kurt had been about the whole thing, considering he'd trashed the Warbler choreography and Blaine's constant lead singing.

"You didn't actually make any _suggestions_ there, Kurt," David pointed out.

Kurt shrugged. "I don't really have any specifically. I mean, we're an a capella group so an arrangement with the band is out. But we could change it up. Have multiple singing or a duet. You could make us wear something that would grab the attention of the audience. Maybe we do something with a theme and have themed costumes." He threw his hands up with mild frustration. "I don't know what we need. I just know that if we keep doing what we're doing, we'll have lost before we even perform, and that's if we go before New Directions. If we go up after and we're doing the same thing…well, we'll know we've already lost and then we'll just lose _worse _and _look_like a bunch of morons up there on stage."

"Morons?" Thad said, eyebrow raised. "I hardly think our refined skills would make us look like _morons_."

"Kurt's right," Blaine interjected. "We will look silly if New Directions throws everything they have at the competition and blow everyone away and we do the same thing as always."

"So you're agreeing with his ideas of themes and costumes?" Trent challenged.

Blaine glanced at Kurt and shrugged. "I'm agreeing that we need to do something different. We're a group of attractive males. Maybe we should try smiling more and looking happier on stage. Maybe we can make girls swoon. Maybe we can highlight different voices or tug at heart strings with emotional songs." He could feel the nervous flush creeping up his neck at challenging the usual order of things in the group.

"A competition like this isn't the time to take chances that might not pay off," Wes frowned.

"A competition like this is _exactly_ when we need to take chances when we _know_ that if we don't take them, we're screwed anyway!"

Oops. The glare in his direction from Wes meant a serious talking to later. Oh well, he'd take it if it meant that they listened to him.

Flint raised a discussion about changing outfits which made the room explode into quiet discussions regarding anything and everything to do with the competition. Kurt threw Blaine a grateful smile and Blaine's heart skipped a beat or two and it made focusing on the rest of the meeting difficult because all he kept thinking about was what that smile _meant_.

"If you don't kiss him soon, I swear to God that I will make you eat your own testicles."

He cringed and crossed his legs defensively. "But I don't even know if he feels the same way."

"So you _do_ like him!" she squealed and he hit himself in the head. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Rachel, you're missing the _point_."

"Look, I…I shouldn't tell you this, but I've spoken to him. About you. And…well, it's pretty obvious he feels _something_."

"He does?"

"Uh huh," she hummed. "And I don't even know _why_ I'm encouraging it so much but I am so just go kiss him. I have songs to- learn. Songs to learn."

"For Regionals?"

"For Regionals," she agreed, clicking off.

Blaine sighed as he retrieved his laptop and logged back onto the website, delighting in seeing a response from Eliza.

'_I say go for it! I know I sound like such a hypocrite given my own situation, but if you're as friendly with him as it seems from your writing, then you might be missing out on someone who truly matches you, who loves you and accepts you regardless of your flaws and errors and past. Don't let him go, Jeff. Don't give him up. Have strength and courage and faith in your feelings, and in his. Let your love shine. –E._'

He smiled as he touched the screen, wishing Eliza would take her own advice and tell the girl she was crushing on from a distance. He sent her a message back as such before turning in for the night, words and songs and thoughts whirling through his head as he tried to construct some sort of speech declaring his feelings for Kurt. And hopefully, not sounding like a totally lovesick dork while saying it.

The Warblers had listened to the concerns Kurt had raised, but the hum of activity surrounding Regionals was quickly overshadowed when Pavarotti, the little bird Kurt had been caring for since his arrival at Dalton and acceptance into the Warblers, escaped from his cage and flew out Kurt's bedroom window.

Slightly teary, Kurt had turned to Blaine and asked simply, "Thought anything mean recently?"

Blaine snorted and shook his head, hugging Kurt and saying that maybe now that Pavarotti was free, he could find a nice lady bird to settle down with. Kurt had gazed out the window Pavarotti had flown from and questioned what was wrong settling down with a nice boy bird.

"Absolutely nothing," Blaine replied, kissing Kurt's cheek before he thought about it and then disappearing to his bedroom and making himself scarce for the rest of the day.

After a night of nearly no sleep, he was roused in the early hours by knocking on his door. He still owed Nick for waking him when Kurt had initially arrived, so if it was Nick again he was-

"Hey," he breathed, seeing Kurt's smile as he wrapped his coat around him tighter. "What are you doing here?"

"Can we…can you…" Kurt stamped his foot which Blaine tried not to smile at, because goddamn that was cute. "Get your coat. We're going for a walk."

"Are we?" Blaine questioned as he grabbed his warmest coat from the rack and pulled it on. He slipped on a pair of loafers and shut his room door as Kurt walked beside him. "And what is wrong with going for a walk at a more reasonable hour of the morning, or at the very least day?"

Kurt didn't answer, rubbing his gloved fingers over his arms until Blaine reached out for it and gripped it. He wondered how long Kurt had been out of bed because of how cold his hand was and tried blowing warm air on it to defrost it. Kurt blushed and kept leading him up one of the hills at the back of the school grounds.

"Where are we _going_?" he asked, looking at the trees and grass and breathing the air that was a little too cool in his lungs this early in the morning.

They reached the top of the hill and Kurt landed with a soft _thwump_ as he sat down, pulling Blaine with him into a tangled pile of limbs.

"A little warning?" he said, rubbing his knee and sitting up beside Kurt, who was looking so incredibly serene as he stared over the grounds of Dalton.

"Sometimes I leave my bed and come here to watch the sun rise," Kurt said softly and Blaine finally took the opportunity to notice that the sun was still hidden, barely, the dawn only just starting to…dawn. _Well done, Blaine, great use of language_. "I sort of wanted to share it this morning."

Blaine thought his stomach had transformed into a pancake factory with all the flip-flopping it was doing. "Why?"

"I recently heard that I should just go for it, lay it all on the line and deal with the aftermath later, rather than trying to question the ending before I'd even begun the story," Kurt said and something flickered in Blaine's memory. "It was good advice, even though it scares me and instead of, y'know, laying it all out there I'd prefer to hide under the covers of my bed."

"But then you'd miss the sunrise," Blaine mumbled as he examined his shoes as if they were the most interesting thing _ever_.

"Blaine," Kurt huffed.

"Sorry, sorry."

Kurt looped his arm through the crook of Blaine's elbow, resting his head on Blaine's shoulder and trying to steal some of Blaine's body warmth. His eyes squeezed shut as he drew on everything he had inside him.

"Blaine, I…I like you," Kurt admitted, trying to ignore the way Blaine tensed at the confession. "I like you more than I should because you're Rachel's brother. I like you more than I should because you're younger than me and shorter than me and that's not usually my _thing_."

"Hey!" Blaine protested weakly.

"But I like you," Kurt continued, voice wobbling as he stared at the sky beginning to lighten in the distance. "I like you and I can't hide it and I can't pretend anymore. It's too much. It's too hard. And maybe you don't feel the same but-"

"I do," Blaine interrupted. "Oh God, Kurt, I _so_ do."

Kurt tried fighting Blaine adjusting him but Blaine was determined and soon he was staring into Blaine's dark golden eyes. And then the eyes were gone because he'd closed his again and was kissing Blaine before he even was aware of it. A part of his brain registered that Blaine's lips were cold and then another part decided that it would be a very good idea to warm those lips up. His hand slid over Blaine's neck and he felt Blaine's fingers in his hair and the whimper that escaped his mouth encouraged Blaine to kiss him harder and deeper, tongues meeting and moving wetly over each other.

He didn't want to stop. He didn't want to stop _ever_, but Blaine was literally sucking air from his lungs so the kiss didn't end and he _had_ to break away to inhale oxygen.

The sun had made its first appearance over the horizon, golden beams shooting into the sky as clouds appeared to glow. It was magical, and Blaine could completely understand why Kurt would come and watch it. It was eerily peaceful and once again something intimate that he had shared with Kurt. The heat in his cheeks was matched by Kurt's, a sweet smile curving Kurt's red lips.

Kurt's hand found his again and they watched in silence as the sun rose slowly, dazzling them with a multi-coloured sky and washing the world with life. Birds that Blaine hadn't even noticed before were starting to rise and chirp and he distantly wondered if maybe Pavarotti was lurking in one of the trees nearby. The calm of the morning settled over them as their bodies leaned into one another. It wasn't just a new morning, but a new start for them, _together_.

The test for Rachel's screeching abilities apparently demonstrated she hadn't yet mastered sending her voice from Lima to Dalton, but Blaine was pretty sure he had some permanent inner ear damage from the volume piercing his phone.

"It's about damn time!" she ranted. "I _told _him to kiss you weeks ago and-"

"_You_ told him?" he cut in, frowning at a picture on his wall that was askew. He touched it with his finger and righted it so it was level.

"Well, he has my number too, you know. Sometimes he wanted to know what you were thinking and we'd talk about you."

"You'd talk about _me_?"

"Since when do you repeat me all the time?" she huffed as Blaine fell onto his bed. "Anyway, that's _so_ not the point! He's been so confused for _months_, the poor boy, and then something seemed to change and he became more determined. He said something about not wanting to be a hypocrite anymore and listening to his own advice and-"

Blaine zoned out because he'd dropped his phone in shock. He'd heard those words before. Well, no, he hadn't heard them, he'd _read _them. Suddenly pieces of a jigsaw Blaine didn't even know he'd been building smacked into place and he found himself making excuses to get Rachel off the line, ignoring her indignant yelps as he hung up and sprinted down the corridor to Kurt's room.

"You don't need to make such a commotion," Kurt squinted as he opened the door to stop Blaine knocking on it.

"I do when there's something bugging me," Blaine said, entering the room and pacing between the shelf holding Kurt's books and his window.

Kurt took a seat on his bed and watched Blaine with his head tilted to the side. "What's bugging you?"

"Your mother, what was her name?" Blaine said, pausing to gaze steadily at Kurt.

"E-Elizabeth, why?"

"That's your middle name too, isn't it?" Blaine continued, and it all started to come together when Kurt nodded.

"Don't you think it's strange, that she gave you her name? I mean, who gives a _boy _a girl's name? Family heirloom names are one thing but they stay within their genders."

Kurt frowned. "What are you getting at?"

"Your mother was sick before you were born," Blaine said suddenly. "She was sick before you were born and she knew you were going to be her only child. So she gave you her name."

Kurt gaped at him.

"She gave you her name and you have her voice and sometimes, sometimes you use it, her name I mean, or your middle one." His gaze fell on Kurt's laptop before he resumed pacing. "Except you shorten it. You change it. You mix it up so no one will recognise you. It's clever, because I did the same."

"Blaine, I don't understand-"

"You're Eliza, aren't you?" Blaine said, stopping in the middle of the floor and staring hard at Kurt. "On the website. You're Eliza."

Kurt's mouth moved but there weren't any coherent sentences being spat out. "How do you…what…I don't…"

"Say it, Kurt. You're Eliza."

Kurt crossed his arms and scowled. "So what if I was this 'Eliza' person?"

"Don't bullshit me!" Blaine yelled, and then knowing he'd done the wrong thing once again when Kurt jumped.

"_Blaine_, what's going on?"

"Don't you see?" Blaine said, breath shortening as he struggled to maintain some semblance of control. "Don't you get it? You're Eliza, and I'm…I'm…" His knees gave out and he slumped to the floor, clutching at the carpet weakly as emotions smacked into him with the force of a freight train. "I'm _Jeff_," he whispered.

"You're…" Kurt's hand covered his mouth. "Oh my God. Oh my _God_. No way, _no _way!"

And there it was. There was the confirmation that Blaine was right and the world was too small and Kurt knew things about him that even Rachel didn't know.

"But it's not _possible_," Kurt was muttering as he shook his head and tried to convince himself that Blaine hadn't said what he had most _definitely_ said.

"It's not _probable_, certainly," Blaine said. "But it happened."

"But how…?"

"How did I know?" Kurt nodded as he joined Blaine on the floor. "It was something you said. Yesterday morning when we…watched the sun rise. You said that you had to stop thinking about the ending before you'd even begun."

"Which is what Jeff told me…" Kurt breathed with wide eyes.

"It made me frown because it was something so familiar to me but I couldn't place it. And then I was telling Rachel and she was saying how you hadn't wanted to be a hypocrite anymore and that's what Eliza had said. What _you_ had said."

"But the chances…"

"Are ridiculously impossible, I know," Blaine smiled. "It's even more impossible when Jeff Smith lives in Seattle and Eliza Franklin lives in New York."

Kurt blushed. "You know I like New York."

"I didn't have that much thought in it. I just chose somewhere on the other side of the country to make it as unlikely to be me as possible."

Kurt's smile was bemused as he shook his head again. "I can't believe it."

"Maybe it was fate."

"Maybe I should think bad thoughts more often," Kurt teased.

Blaine chuckled and felt the uneasy tension of his realisation disappearing as Kurt seemed to accept it far quicker than Blaine had expected him to.

"I think I knew, maybe, somewhere," Kurt said, as if reading his thoughts. "Sometimes your problems would mirror mine so perfectly. Your thoughts when you wrote to me sounded so much like _you_." Kurt frowned and scratched his nose. "Or maybe I just _wanted_ to think that it was you because it meant that you felt the same and were just too scared to admit it."

"It's not like you were any better," Blaine pointed out.

"I do believe that _I_ took _you_ to the hill, laid my feelings out there, and kissed _you_ first, Blaine Anderson," Kurt said with a firm look. "So at least I got over my fear."

Blaine's lips quirked into a smile as he cradled Kurt's cheek. "I used to be jealous of you and Rachel. Maybe I always wanted to be a part of your world, and be someone more than Rachel's little brother. Seeing you so upset with the bullying last year…I wanted to help you. I wanted to save you and fix you and heal you." His thumb swiped the tear that sneaked free of Kurt's eye. "Eliza would write things that broke my heart, that made me want to wrap her in my arms and never let her go. The fact that it was _you_ and you were so damn close…"

"But many times you did wrap me up and keep me safe," Kurt acknowledged, nuzzling his face into Blaine's hand and kissing Blaine's palm.

"It's not quite the same though," Blaine said, and Kurt conceded with a nod. "I don't really know when I realised how I actually felt. I think you helping me with my guilt opened my eyes in so many ways, and I think I was finally able to acknowledge my feelings and not feel bad about them." He shrugged as his fingers curled behind Kurt's ear to scratch at the ridge there. Kurt shuddered and hummed with contentment. "I've been so blind."

"At least now you can see," Kurt murmured, yawning and pressing into Blaine's hand. Blaine was distinctly reminded of a cat as he shifted to his knees and touched his lips to Kurt's. Whimpering, Kurt's fingers found his hips and tugged him closer and Blaine happily obliged because kissing Kurt was never, ever going to get boring in his opinion.

**A/N: **Congratulations to the few particularly savvy reviewers who picked up on the Eliza/Kurt thing. I also changed up a few of the details from canon, as I said I would, but I hope you still enjoy it and will go with it because it just felt more suited to the way I've written Kurt and Blaine in this story. Also, finally some understanding on Blaine's history! Yay! Did anyone guess what it might have been?

As always, I'm astounded by the response and forever grateful and thankful for all you, my wonderful readers. Without you, it wouldn't be worth writing. So thank you! xx


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** A Sibling By Any Other Name  
><strong>Author:<strong> an-alternate-world  
><strong>Rating:<strong> M (starts mild, rating will go up in future chapters)  
><strong>CharactersPairings:** Blaine/Kurt  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 7,829  
><strong>Summary:<strong> When Blaine is forced into finding a new family, he never expected to meet the people he did. He never expected his life to turn out this way. He never expected to fall so hopelessly in love so early in life. He never expected any of this. AnderBerry siblings, eventual Klaine.  
><strong>WarningsSpoilers: **A vague re-writing of canon Glee, but there are some huge differences, which you'll see as you go along. Angst, fluff, a little bit of smut.  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I am in no way associated with _Glee, FOX_, Ryan Murphy or anything else related to the _Glee _universe.

* * *

><p>Kurt had thought the Warbler's do-over of Queen's <em>You're My Best Friend <em>and Pink's _Raise Your Glass_ had been outstanding performances that showcased a variety of voices and talent. It exposed their camaraderie and cohesion and the cheers had been huge. Wes and Thad had both personally come over to Kurt and thanked him for giving the council the challenge they needed to try something different and Blaine had grinned and squeezed his hand.

But no one, not Kurt or Blaine or anyone in the Warblers or indeed the rest of the competition including Sue's ridiculous troupe of poorly organised vocalists, could have predicted New Directions writing their _own _songs. Kurt stared at Blaine and Blaine stared at his sister singing her heart out. He'd been so distracted recently with his feelings for Kurt that he hadn't paid much attention to what had been going on in her life. He wondered what was going so wrong that she needed to desperately get right.

And if Kurt had been stunned by one original song, he was never prepared for two. He couldn't help laughing in his seat, even when Jeff smacked his shoulder from behind, because he understood exactly what the song was about and it was so utterly _perfect_. And more than anything, he wanted to be up there and singing in Sue's face. Instead he was on his feet, ignoring the scowls of the other Warblers, and grabbed Blaine's hand when Blaine stood to jump around to the song as well. But when Wes conceded that yes, New Directions had written a great song and found himself bopping his head, David and Thad had stopped looking quite so scandalised.

The win for New Directions was clear from the get-go and Blaine congratulated his sister backstage because she truly deserved it.

"Something more going on in that song?" he said quietly as she held onto the back of his blazer, face buried against his shoulder.

"Finn and I broke up," she whispered, pulling away and wiping the tears away from her eyes. "Again. Quinn actually gave me the right degree of hurt and anger to channel into the song."

"Oh Rach," he sighed, tugging her to his chest again and resting his head on the top of hers. It was the only benefit of her being so small, that he could snuggle her like this while they stayed standing. It made him feel like an overprotective big brother even though he was younger than her. "I've always said you could do better than Finn," he said, rubbing a hand over her back.

"I know, I know," she sniffled and he held her tighter. "But the heart wants what the heart wants, huh?"

He smiled ruefully and kissed the top of her hair. "I love you too."

"And I know that too," she said, giving him a watery smile and kissing his cheek. She breathed deeply and gave a determined nod. "I need to go celebrate the win with my teammates. I'll talk to you soon, okay? And don't spend too much time with Kurt and fail your finals!"

"_Yes_, sis," he teased, pushing her towards her teammates her were squealing over the latest trophy and the opportunity to go to Nationals.

Wes sidled over and nudged Blaine's arm. "At least we didn't look like _total_ asses up there."

Blaine snorted. "I did warn you."

"And we listened."

"Barely."

Wes shrugged and stuffed his hands in his blazer pockets. "We're heading back to Dalton. Are you and Kurt coming, or are you going with your sister and his old teammates?"

Blaine glanced over at where Kurt was laughing with Brittany and Santana. "We'll come back. Just…give him a few minutes?"

Wes nodded and wandered away to join up with some of the other seniors in the group. Even as Kurt smiled, he couldn't help analysing it and feeling it was more strained than typical around the Dalton boys. Kurt caught his eye and he made his way over.

"Hey, Wes wanted to know if you were nearly ready to go?"

Kurt's arm looped through his and his smile was grateful for the briefest second.

"No! Kurt, come with us! You were one of us too!" Brittany pleaded.

Kurt bit his lip but ultimately shook his head. "I _was_ one of you. I'm not anymore. You guys go have a great time." He reached for her hand and pulled her into a brief hug under Santana's envious gaze. "You guys deserve it. I never could have predicted original songs."

"Yeah, well," Santana said as she flicked her hair. "We needs to do something to beat boys in blazers."

Her gaze raked over Blaine and he rolled his eyes. "Not only am I _gay_, Santana, but I've known you since you were in primary school _and_ I know Rachel would kill the pair of us."

She shrugged as Brittany linked their pinkies. "Gay doesn't stop me," she replied with a wink and turned away, dragging Brittany with her.

Blaine shook his head and tugged Kurt away before he clawed out her eyes. He saw Rachel standing to one side with Sam and Mercedes while Finn stood with Quinn and he wondered at the frequency with which partners got transferred at that school. Honestly, it boggled his mind.

* * *

><p>"Did Rachel put you up to this?"<p>

"_No_, I-"

"Is it me?"

"What? Blaine-"

"Why? _Why _would you go back to a place like that? Why would you go back to torment and fear and terror?" Blaine yelled.

"Because my Dad can't afford this place anymore!" Kurt yelled back.

Blaine paused as his anger deflated like a popped balloon. "But I thought-"

"I don't _care_ what you thought, Blaine. It's expensive and he's working so many hours to pay for me here and pay his medical bills and it's too much for him and it's too much for me because it's placing too much stress on him and I'm worrying myself sick!"

He stepped towards Kurt with his hands outstretched. "Kurt-"

"_No_, Blaine! Don't try and coddle me or mollify me or soothe it with words! You think I _want_ to go back there? I'm the one that knows what it was like, not you!"

"Kurt-"

"Shut up. SHUT UP!" he cried, hands clapping over his ears as he burst into sobs and sank to his knees. "It's the last thing I want to do but I don't have a choice anymore."

Blaine fell in front of him and desperately pulled him into a hug as Kurt broke into tears. "Surely there's something…"

"I can't apply for scholarships or special requests. I don't qualify for anything. I've checked."

Blaine clutched Kurt's trembling body and it felt like his heart was breaking all over again. Kurt was going to _leave_ and he hadn't even been here that long.

"I had a meeting with Karofsky and his Dad a couple days ago…"

"You _what_?"

Kurt cringed in Blaine's hold and he sucked in a breath through his nose to try and calm down. "He's changed. He wants to be a better person and protect me from being hurt by other guys in the football team. He's in some league thing with Santana, which is hilarious since they're both just closeted gays." He snorted and wiped his eyes.

"Wait, Santana's gay?"

"Did you completely miss the way she hangs on to everything Brittany says, how she shoots glares at anyone and everyone that touches Britt, how she's always next to her and touching her?"

"Well, no, but I just thought-"

"That it's perfectly acceptable for girls to do that but not guys?" Kurt laughed bitterly as he blew his nose into a tissue. "It is acceptable. No one's ever batted an eyelash at it. It doesn't change that Santana's in the closet and bearding for Karofsky."

Blaine grimaced at the thought of anyone being interested in the hulking, smelly bully, beard or not. "It doesn't excuse his behaviour or actions towards you."

"I know it doesn't," Kurt sighed, leaning back into Blaine's arms. "But he's made his peace and he's promised to leave me alone and I'm out of options here."

"I don't like it."

"You're not the one going back."

Blaine knew it was true and nosed at Kurt's hair. "Promise you'll still call and text? Promise you'll still see me?"

"Oh Blaine," Kurt smiled, tilting his face up to touch Blaine's cheek. "Like I could get rid of you so easily."

"Well, you could."

"You live with Rachel."

"So?"

"And I'm pretty sure if I broke your heart, it would be the end of my close friendship with her as well as the close friendship my balls have with my dick."

Blaine blinked and tried not to think inappropriate thoughts, although it was difficult. "Yes. Well. Um. Let's just…let's keep all body parts attached."

"I'm good with that plan," Kurt nodded, tugging Blaine's head down and kissing him softly.

* * *

><p>Releasing Kurt back into the care of his dysfunctional and self-absorbed friends was probably one of the hardest situations Blaine had had to walk away from in years. Rachel hauled him back for a hug and made promises about taking care of him, but watching him amidst the New Directions, Blaine felt a little like Kurt had been a broken, tarnished toy sent to Dalton for repairs and polishing. Now that he was fixed, he was shiny and new and exciting again. And then the coat of polish would wear off, faster than usual because they all knew Kurt and he wasn't someone they needed to learn the ins and outs of, and Kurt would be back to the curb. He watched with tears in his eyes until Nick pulled him away, hoping, hoping, that Kurt would be okay in the hallways of horror.<p>

* * *

><p>"What the <em>hell<em>are you talking about, Rachel?"

"Kurt's cheating on you! I saw it! I was with Finn and we-"

"Were spying?" Blaine supplied.

"_No_. We were trying to figure out what was going on and-"

"_Spying_."

"Watching at a distance!" she hissed. "And Kurt came out and then Sam was wearing one of his jackets and I _know _it was one of his jackets and Blaine, you need to listen to me!"

Blaine's heart was honestly twisting into pretzels because he couldn't block her out and everything with Kurt was still so fresh and new and he _knew_ that Kurt had had a crush on Sam earlier in the year and God, what if Sam was one of those people who wanted what was unobtainable?

"Blaine?"

"God, Rachel. You just want to rip people's relationships apart left and right. Leave me alone. Leave Kurt alone. You said you'd look out for him and his best interests."

"I _am_. And I'm trying to look out for yours too! I thought you'd break his heart but maybe he'll break yours!"

Blaine flinched away from the phone and hung up on his sister before switching the phone off and flinging it at his desk. He was hurting and furious and terrified. He hurled himself onto his bed and buried his face in the pillow, screaming like he hadn't done since he was a child because it was too much to take in.

* * *

><p>It was Saturday, three days since that damned call from his damned sister, when he was disturbed by knocking on his door.<p>

"I _told_ you I didn't want to play Halo, Nick!"

"Open the goddamn door, Blaine."

Oh.

He cracked it open and peeked out. "Kurt?"

"What the hell is going on? Your phone is off and no one would tell me what was wrong or let me talk to you!" Kurt's fingers trembled by his sides and Blaine could clearly tell he'd been crying. "Do you not want me anymore? Because it would have been nice to have known it a bit more directly."

"Rachel says you're cheating on me."

"Oh my _God_, I told her not to talk to you about it!" Kurt shrilled, face contorting in fury.

"So you are?" Blaine said, heart dropping. "Thanks a lot, Kurt."

He slammed the door in Kurt's face and felt his heart splinter at his feet.

"What the _shit_, Anderson? Open the fuck up! I'm not cheating on you! I'm trying to help Sam for crying out loud!"

He shook his head and stumbled away to his bed, collapsing in a heap and burying his head under the pillows, but he could still hear Kurt yelling.

"So help me, I'll break your door down or get someone to help me break it down! I don't care if it's solid oak or walnut or whatever the hell all the wood is in this place, I'll blast it off its fucking hinges!" Kurt was raving.

Tears dampened the mattress beneath Blaine's face as he heard Kurt grow more and more enraged and hysterical, his yells turning to desperate pleas.

Finally Kurt fell silent even as Blaine sobbed into his pillow. He never thought Kurt would have done this. He never would have thought it would hurt so much.

"Blaine? Dude, are you in there?" He tucked the pillow around his ears tighter. "Blaine, Kurt's having a panic attack. He can't _breathe_, man."

He peeled the pillow away. "What?"

"Blaine, get the fuck out here and help Kurt before he passes out."

Blaine flung the pillow away and leaped from the bed, stumbling over his feet as he ripped the door open. Wes and Nick were kneeling beside Kurt while Jeff held other boys back.

"Kurt, come on, _breathe_," Wes encouraged, glaring at Blaine.

Blaine fell to his knees and scooped Kurt into his arms, ignoring how pale Kurt was as he trembled uncontrollably. "Kurt, baby, it's okay. It's okay. I've got you. I'm sorry. I'm _so _sorry…shh…"

Blaine didn't think he'd ever held Kurt, or anyone else for that matter, so tightly before. He rocked back and forth humming while Wes kept telling Kurt to breathe and Nick shooed several sophomores back to their rooms.

He stopped humming when he felt Kurt's breathing catch and he stared desperately at Wes, tears prickling his own eyes. "Please Kurt, please…don't pass out on me…it's okay…you're safe, I've got you honey…shhh…"

Wes eased Kurt into a different position where the side of his face was pressed into Blaine's chest. He picked up Kurt's hands between his and searched for Kurt's wildly frightened eyes. "Kurt, can you pay attention to me, okay? Can you squeeze my hand?" Kurt tightened his grip and Wes smiled. "That's great, Kurt. Okay. What I want you to do, you can hear Blaine's heart, yeah? You can hear it beating beneath your ear? Squeeze my hand once for yes if you can hear it."

Kurt slipped down a little and Blaine clutched him closely until he saw the squeeze of Kurt's hand.

"Okay Kurt, that's great. What I want you to do, I want you to listen to his heart. I want you to listen to it beating beneath your ear and thudding against your cheek, okay?" Kurt's fingers twitched in affirmation. "Okay, and I want you to feel Blaine's lungs expanding. I want you to try and inhale once for every four beats of Blaine's heart, okay? I know that sounds really impossible right now because your pulse is so high, but I want you to concentrate on counting to four, and then inhaling, okay? And then I want you to count another three beats and let your breath out as slowly as you can. You don't need to count that time. It can be a slow release or a whoosh, I don't care."

One of Wes' hands came free to brush the hair that had fallen into Kurt's eyes back and his dark eyes focused on Kurt's. "Four beats, okay? Do you want to do it together?" Kurt's head shook slightly. "Okay, okay. Just focus on counting. Focus on listening and counting to four and inhaling."

Nick and Jeff watched from nearby as Wes gradually talked Kurt around and his frantic panting slowed.

"I'm sorry," Kurt whimpered, pawing at Blaine's t-shirt when he was able to collect his thoughts enough to speak.

"_You're_ sorry? God, Kurt, I said I'd be calmer and listen to you and look at me, look at you, look at _this_," he said, cradling Kurt and kissing his forehead. "_I'm _the one that's sorry. I should never have done that without listening. Never. I was, once again, completely in the wrong."

Kurt trembled and his fingers curled into the fabric.

"Can we move off the floor in the corridor and take this inside, maybe?" Blaine asked and Kurt gave a wobbly nod.

"I'll stay with you if you don't mind," Wes said. "I'll sit in the corner by the door. I just want to make sure he doesn't throw up or anything."

Blaine agreed and together they helped Kurt onto Blaine's bed where he curled up around a pillow and patted behind him for Blaine to spoon against him. Nick and Jeff departed awkwardly while Wes sat, as promised, in a corner by the door, watching closely.

"I'm sorry," Blaine whispered, petting Kurt's hair. "I'm sorry. I was so out of line."

"I just wanted to explain," Kurt said softly, voice shaky and heartbroken.

"I know, I know. Rachel planted the idea in my head days ago and then I took everything you said wrong and it just exploded in my head and I was wrong," Blaine said, kissing the back of Kurt's head. "Please honey, I'm listening now. I'll keep my calm, I promise."

Kurt breathed carefully and sought out Blaine's hand to grip between his. "I'm just helping Sam, honest. He…his family home got repossessed and all they had were the clothes on their backs and whatever they could carry in the five minutes they were given to get out. I let him take some of my old clothes that were more his style because he needed something and I have so many."

Blaine really needed to manage his temper better because it always made him look like such an ass. And Wes' criticising look wasn't helping his guilt at all.

"Rachel must have seen me when I went over to drop the clothes off, only she missed the part where I gave him the clothes and just saw me leaving. I spent some time with his kid brother and sister and talking to his mom and trying to tell her that it would be okay and the Glee club would help Sam and his siblings as much as we could while she and Sam's dad tried to find work." He shuddered with the aftershocks of the adrenaline still flooding his system and Wes hopped up to drape a blanket over him. Kurt smiled faintly as Wes re-took his seat in the corner.

"I never thought it would get so out of hand. They've been pestering me because they think I still have a crush on Sam, which is absurd because not only is he not gay, but I have you, and you're gorgeous and perfect and I'm not going to mess that up with someone who colours his hair with lemon juice." Kurt wrinkled his nose and Wes burst out laughing.

"Lemon juice? Really? That works?"

"I don't even know, that's just the story he told me when we went to Breadstix last year." Wes quietened his laughs into soft snorts and Blaine rolled his eyes at his friend's immaturity. "And they've been pestering Quinn and it's driving this huge wedge between her and Finn and then Finn and Rachel and it's getting so out of hand. It's not my place or Quinn's or anyone else's to basically out Sam's problems and he doesn't want to talk about it but no one will take my or Quinn's word that nothing is going on between either of us and Sam and the fact Rachel _called_ you when I specifically told her that she was completely mental and wrong and to leave it alone…" Kurt sighed and fingers the blanket with his spare hand. "I should have known she'd never listen to me."

"She's just trying to look out for us," Blaine said, knowing it was a poor excuse for his meddling moron of a sister.

"She could try not planting damaging ideas in your head," Kurt reasoned. "Alternatively, you could have given me the benefit of the doubt and tried talking to me about it since the day she called rather than making me terrified with worry and drive out here and nearly run off the road at least six times."

"Kurt, you shouldn't drive while so upset," Wes frowned.

"Next time I call you and demand to speak to Blaine, you better damn well put him on," Kurt retorted sharply. Wes had the grace to look ashamed.

"And then you could have tried to actually listen to what I had to say _before_ I became so overwhelmed that I was clutching at my throat and wondering why my lungs were being squashed by iron fingers."

"I'm so sorry," Blaine mumbled again.

Kurt rolled over and Wes felt like he was about to intrude on things far too private to witness and swiftly exited.

"Why didn't you talk to me after she called? Why didn't you take any of my calls when I called the other boys? Why didn't you listen to me when I hammered on your door?"

Blaine's eyes slipped closed as he breathed. "Because I was scared," he admitted, eyes opening when Kurt scoffed. "Kurt, you don't see yourself properly. You don't see yourself as you are." His hand reached up and traced Kurt's jaw. "You're truly one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. To sound cliché, you have the voice of an angel. Your wit is incredible, your fashion sense is impeccable. You could have anyone you wanted and it terrifies me that you'll see that and find someone better."

"And you think someone that uses lemon juice to tint his hair is _better_?"

"I think anyone except the bullying jocks at McKinley is better, Kurt," Blaine whispered, eyes nervous. "I would do anything for you. I've spent so long not knowing what I was missing out on and then you went back to McKinley so suddenly and…I don't know. I'm insecure. I've lost people near and dear to me so many times that what's another person walking away? Maybe you didn't go back to McKinley because of financial troubles but because there was someone you wanted there more than me here…" Blaine shrugged and kept his eyes averted.

"Blaine Anderson, you need to stop thinking so little of me and my decisions and my feelings for you," Kurt said firmly.

"It's my feelings regarding _everyone_," Blaine acknowledged softly. "I'm adopted. I'm an adopted orphan and my parents were meth heads who blew themselves up because they tried being chemists in the kitchen. Rachel told me once she wanted to send me back. Actually, she told me more than once," Blaine mused, then shook his head. "I must have been through nearly a hundred homes before the Berry's took me in. I was with a new family every week, sometimes more than one family a week. And each time, I was undesirable."

Blaine's eyes shimmered and Kurt noticed a tear on Blaine's incredibly long eyelashes. "And then there's someone who's as amazing as you and it all feels so crazy and unreal. I know Rachel gets paranoid, I _know_ that. I know I shouldn't listen to her but I did and I regret it, but it doesn't seem so impossible to me that you would cheat or have feelings for someone else. It doesn't seem so impossible that you would find someone better."

Kurt's eyes flickered over his face before kissing him, smooth and languid and deep and warm and sinfully good. He whined low in his throat and Kurt pulled away with a satisfied expression.

"Next time you think about me cheating or having feelings or finding someone better, you remember this. You remember this moment and this kiss and that I- And that I'm yours," Kurt finished, cheeks turning red. Blaine wondered if that's what Kurt had really wanted to say, and knew that he hadn't, but he wasn't going to press that point too fast.

"Do you see what I mean? You don't seem real. It doesn't seem possible that you'd choose _me_," Blaine whispered.

Kurt huffed, raising up on his elbow and nuzzling his nose against Blaine's. "I'm real. I'm here. And I chose you," he replied, lips meeting Blaine's again.

Blaine barely noticed the tears that escaped over the curve of his cheek as Kurt's tongue pressed insistently into his mouth. His oxygen became Kurt's oxygen as Kurt wriggled on top of him and he groaned, fingers digging into Kurt's hips as he held him close.

"_Kurt_," he breathed between kisses and Kurt smiled, hand stroking over Blaine's hair and kissing him again and again.

"Mine," Kurt returned, mouth moving softly over Blaine's neck. He froze when he felt Blaine's hands rub over his ass. "Blaine, what are you-?"

"Shh," Blaine hummed, nibbling at Kurt's jaw. He licked at the junction of Kurt's jaw and neck below his ear and Kurt moaned quietly.

"Blaine…"

"Can I take care of you, Kurt?" Blaine murmured as he sucked on Kurt's earlobe. "Please, Kurt."

Kurt whimpered, fingers curling in Blaine's hair as he placed kitten licks on Blaine's throat. He could feel Blaine's erection against his stomach and was equally aware of his own against Blaine's thigh. And he remembered what his father had once told him but God, he wanted, he wanted it so badly. He rocked his hips into Blaine and Blaine mewled, grabbing him closer and sucking a faint mark into his neck.

"Blaine…" Kurt said, low and warningly, and Blaine's chuckle turned into a gurgle when Kurt slipped a hand between them and palmed Blaine roughly through his jeans.

"Kurt…_Kurt_…" Blaine panted, arching into Kurt's hand and rubbing his thigh into Kurt's erection. It was messy and fumbly but oh God it felt so good as Kurt stopped thinking and just let himself _feel_. Blaine's neck was slick with sweat and Kurt felt the fire of need growing as he rutted harder into Blaine's leg and moved his hand over Blaine.

"_Kurt_…" Blaine trembled, muscles seizing briefly as he came. He kissed Kurt sloppily and squeezed Kurt's ass and then Kurt exploded and saw stars and _fuck_.

Kurt collapsed against Blaine's chest as he caught his breath, wrinkling his nose at how distinctly uncomfortable his pants had become.

"I didn't mean for that to happen today," Kurt muttered, nosing at Blaine's tee.

Blaine's hands drifted over his back lightly. "Do you regret it?"

Kurt shook his head and Blaine kissed the top of it. "Feel like I need a change of pants though."

"I probably have something," Blaine offered.

"I'm not wearing second-hand clothing!"

"It's not like it's terrible quality or anything," Blaine teased, sliding out from beneath Kurt and rifling through his drawers. "How about these?"

Kurt eyed the plain black skinny jeans and sighed. "_Fine_."

Blaine snorted and tossed the jeans and, blushing, a clean pair of boxers. Kurt flushed equally as dark.

"Um…I'll just…" He snatched up the clothing and darted into Blaine's bathroom.

Blaine grabbed his own pair of jeans and fresh boxers and changed into them while Kurt fussed in the bathroom. He balled up the fabric and tucked it into his clothing hamper to wash later.

He climbed back into his bed, trying not to think of what had happened, trying not to smell the sweat and the sex that lingered on the sheets. He heard the toilet flush and the bathroom door clicked open, Kurt stuffing his soiled clothes into a plastic bag and sliding onto the bed beside Blaine.

"Feel better?"

Kurt buried his face in Blaine's neck and Blaine laughed quietly as his arms wrapped around Kurt's body and held him close.

* * *

><p>The concept of prom terrified him, but between Kurt's pleading and keeping an eye on Rachel, Jesse and Finn, he felt like he was boxed into a corner and agreed to go to appease his sister and…boyfriend? Was that what they were?<p>

The gym was nicely decorated with balloons everywhere and Blaine tried to squash down his fears of drinks being spiked, homophobic attacks and his sister getting her heart broken in the middle of prom. He watched her singing her heart out to Finn and he caught the jealous looks of Jesse and Quinn. He saw the sweet smiles of Mercedes and Sam. He snorted when he saw Santana and Karofsky holding each other as delicately as they could.

"I told you it wouldn't be so bad," Kurt whispered, hand sliding into his. He forced a smile, still feeling uncomfortable and like an impending eruption was going to happen.

"I think I need to get up there and sing with Tina and Brittany," he said, squeezing Kurt's hand and slinking through the crowds towards the girls. He still didn't quite understand why Kurt had roped _him_ into performing at _Kurt's_ prom but he had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with giving Blaine something to do and take his mind off his concerns.

And maybe Kurt was right, because being up on stage and performing lines with an actual band allowed him to release his tension and loosen up for the first time all night. The crowd loved is and he saw Kurt grinning at him and there was a bubble of pride for being given such an opportunity.

But then it soured. He knew it would. He'd been waiting all night. He saw that Sylvester woman hauling Finn and Jesse out by their jackets and Rachel staring after Quinn. Kurt grabbed his arm and insisted the girls needed some time because prom king and queen was about to be announced and Blaine shouldn't bother either of them right now.

He fought down the bile in his throat when Karofsky was announced prom king. He wondered if the school knew that he was secretly hiding being gay if they would still vote for him, and felt disgusted when figuring that they probably wouldn't. More than that though was the disappointment in the school for selecting someone with his bullying reputation. The school had consistently turned a blind eye to Kurt's injuries, not to mention countless other students on the ends of Karofsky's hands. His fingers wound around Kurt's wrist as Kurt stood motionless and drawn as his tormenter waved his victory and success in Kurt's face. Karofsky was everything Kurt wasn't – popular, gay and powerful. Blaine found himself thinking that if Kurt was bigger and more masculine if he could have stayed in the closet and been what Karofsky was. While he adored Kurt's lean, lithe body and found Karofsky borderline repulsive – and not because of how thoroughly he had hurt Kurt – he couldn't help considering that Karofsky's size and strength was what allowed him to stay so hidden.

He was temporarily blinded by the light falling on him. No, not him. On Kurt. He focused on what was going on and…oh God, what a joke. What a terrible, terrible, _cruel_ and heartless joke. He heard Rachel stirring behind him and then Kurt was gone, running through the people and Blaine was after him.

"Kurt! Stop! Wait!"

Watching Kurt, listening to Kurt, made Blaine realise how much Kurt had grown and strengthened. He didn't know if it was because he had Blaine or the few blessed months at Dalton, but Kurt deciding to be coroneted and throwing it into his classmate's faces moved Blaine to tears. Or maybe that was because Kurt had been on his knees and it made Blaine thing of a time years in the future when they might get married.

_Whoa, what?_

Okay, inappropriate thoughts needed to stop, because he was staring at Rachel and she was staring at him as Kurt and Karofsky stepped off the stage to dance. He wanted to vomit at the idea that Karofsky's hands would be on Kurt and he saw Kurt's lips moving and then Karofsky was storming off. He stepped forward before he even knew he was doing it, holding out his hand to Kurt as he'd done so many times before.

"Excuse me, may I have this dance?"

Kurt was shaky and scared, examining the expressions on the faces around him. But Blaine held his hand steady and when Kurt took his hand, he thought his heart would burst with happiness, because this wasn't the same Kurt that he'd met on the staircase and held his hand to not that many months ago.

"I'm so proud of you," Blaine whispered, spinning Kurt in circles and making eyes with his sister to come and join them and ease the tension still thrumming through the room.

Eventually she got the hint and swirled onto the floor with Sam and Tina and some of the other New Directions kids and Blaine wriggled his fingers against Kurt's back because this was okay, this was fine, they could do this, it was okay. Kurt even relaxed enough to sing the song with him and get his photo taken and God, Blaine was _so_ proud he thought he might cry.

He found Rachel as the night was winding down and spun her into a dance. She laughed and clutched at his arms.

"Not so bad a night?" she asked.

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Not as bad as past dances I've been to, or nearly been to," he agreed.

She shot him a sad smile and pulled Kurt into an awkward three-way dance and he laughed as they kept tripping over their feet. Yeah, it hadn't been so bad at all.

* * *

><p>Hearing Kurt regale him about his fantastical time in New York made Blaine wish he'd been there with him. It wasn't that he was jealous of New Directions winning at Regionals – he was happy to admit when his sister and her team had clearly been the better choice – but just that it felt like something he would have loved to have shared with Kurt. And Kurt was so at ease, talking about performing on the <em>Wicked <em>stage at the Gershwin and how Blaine would have paid to see that performance! Of course, it was entirely unprofessional of Rachel and Finn to kiss on stage and he had already had words with his sister such as "Have you never even _read_the competition rules?" to which she had huffily avoided the question, her way of saying no.

And Blaine watched the way Kurt's face moved and he smiled and talked and he felt a warmth in his stomach that reminded him of when Leroy used to tuck him in and whisper that he was loved and it slipped out before he could stop himself.

Kurt froze, coffee cup at his lips as he stared, wide-eyed and mute. He forced himself to swallow and gave a nervous smile. "I love you too."

And it was the first time he'd ever loved anyone, loved anyone like the way he loved Kurt, and Kurt felt the same and it felt so ridiculous that he wanted to break down and cry but he just wanted to hold Kurt and thank him, because Kurt _loved_ him.

Sam and Mercedes had been a welcome distraction, and Blaine had sent a raised eyebrow at Kurt who shrugged. "She barely talks to me anymore," Kurt admitted, fiddling with the lid of his cup. "I don't think she could handle me transferring as well as some people."

"That's not your fault though."

"I know," Kurt said, gazing at where Mercedes was laughing with Sam. "But she used to be one of my best friends and now it's like we don't know each other. I feel like I've lost everyone who used to care about me the past couple of years."

Blaine leaned forward in his chair. "You still have me," he smiled. "And Rach adores you. I know Nick and Jeff and Wes like you. Thad had accepted you, probably because you've stopped rocking the boat on his decisions."

Kurt giggled. "I hope they continue to try new things next year."

Blaine hummed his agreement. "Shall we leave?"

"We shall," Kurt nodded, disposing of his cup and sliding his fingers loosely through Blaine's. "Is it too soon to say I love you again?"

Blaine felt the burn of tears and blinked them away as quickly as he could. "Not when I will gladly say I love you too again."

Kurt grinned and they slid into his car. "I won't tire of hearing that."

Blaine squeezed his hand before releasing it so Kurt could drive. "I won't either."

* * *

><p>Summer came swiftly and brought with it one of the best holidays Blaine had had in a while. He split his time between things with Kurt and Rachel and the occasional Warbler event, and was constantly amazed at how much had changed in a year. Twelve months ago, he used to notice the pale skin and dark circles beneath Kurt's eyes but not feel like he could approach Kurt with his concerns. This year, he'd grown several inches and his confidence had blossomed and he snuggled into bed with Blaine when they were in Blaine's bedroom. The change was truly phenomenal and Blaine realised he wouldn't change the past year for anything in the world, even though it included Kurt's father having a heart attack and being forced into transferring schools.<p>

Kurt shared some of his memories of his mother, showing Blaine old photos in a yellowed album. His fingers trailed over the woman that was only an indistinct memory and through Kurt's stories, felt like he knew Elizabeth Hummel as if he'd met her more than a handful of times when she picked up Kurt from playdates.

But a feeling nagged at Blaine that Kurt had pictures where Blaine didn't, and he had no idea how to get them. He tried searching online but there weren't any records of either of them or even their deaths. He was sure he'd always been Blaine Anderson but Anderson proved to be an incredibly common name and he didn't really know where he'd been based when he lived with them. There were so many huge holes in his life story and yet he didn't feel like he could ask his fathers about Carla and Jack and maybe try chasing them down. He hadn't had to deal with CPS or anything in _years_ since he'd settled in so well with the Berry's and his head honestly hurt with all the conflicting thoughts of if he wanted to know and remember, or if he'd prefer to forget.

Kurt picked up on his anxieties but didn't press for explanations, calmly holding Blaine when he cried and kissing away his tears. He whispered his words of love over Blaine's skin until Blaine calmed and felt bits of his soul stitch back together with the love that Kurt so freely gave.

Some parts of the holidays weren't so great though. Rachel had walked in on them making out a few times and ran from the room screaming loud enough to be heard in Toronto, Blaine was certain. Thankfully, she'd never seen more than them rubbing through clothes but it was enough for Hiram to pull him aside and remind him about _safety_ and if Blaine ever needed a word with them about _dynamics_, then he only needed to ask. Gagging on the thoughts in his head, Blaine had refused to talk to Rachel for two days and instead took Kurt to the Lima Bean and the park, hardly expecting Kurt to be so overjoyed at jumping on a swing and refusing to get off for at least an hour.

Occasionally, Kurt would mention the idea of Blaine transferring to McKinley but he steadfastly refused, because he had never wanted to attend public school again and he didn't want to deal with Rachel and her solo-hogging. Except then Rachel overheard the two of them discussing it and thought it was simply a _fabulous_ idea because Blaine harmonised so much better with her voice than Finn and oh _please_, couldn't he transfer for _her_?

It was almost enough to make Kurt stop, because it became so sickeningly annoying to hear from his sister every other breath that he would make such an outstanding contribution to the Glee club and they really needed a more masculine voice that could actually _hold_ the notes and his fingers _itched_ with the desire to rip her vocal cords free of her throat. Several times, he found himself sitting on his hands and not even remembering when in Rachel's tirade he put them there.

And then summer started to draw to a close and Blaine found himself disappointed at how fast it had gone by. Kurt was planning on going to New York in a year and it seemed so far away and yet so much had happened in the past year that he knew it was going to rush by before he regained his equilibrium from the disappearance of summer.

The transfer of Sam to Kentucky and Lauren deciding Glee club wasn't cool enough and Quinn's radical transformation over the holidays meant New Directions was in trouble with member numbers and Blaine was literally bombarded with dozens of text messages from Rachel every day. He'd tried turning off his phone except if he missed replying to Kurt, Kurt got anxious and started sending _more_ texts and Blaine really didn't want a repeat of the panic attack from last year, although he'd gladly repeat what happened afterwards. He met with Kurt for coffee on Wednesday and then went home, needing to talk to one of his dads about all of this pressure that was being put on him.

"Blaine?"

"Hey Dad," he smiled, hugging Leroy and subtly smelling him. It sounded way creepier than it actually was. Since Blaine couldn't remember the smell of his own parents, he tried to make a point of really paying attention to what everyone he was close to smelled like.

"Something wrong?" Leroy asked, heading into the kitchen where work papers were strewn over the table.

"Why does anything have to be wrong?"

"You're here on a weekday and your face is an open book," his dad said pointedly. He flushed and took a seat while Leroy fetched a glass of water.

"I'm considering transferring to McKinley," Blaine said finally when his father had finished drinking and swallowed and wasn't in any danger of choking.

"Hmm…" Leroy took a seat and shuffled some papers around so he could rest his chin in his palms. "I would hope this isn't because you've found yourself a boy."

Blaine bit his lip as he looked at his hands on the table. "It is, partly," he admitted. He needed to figure this all out in his head and he knew his father would listen. "But it's also about helping their Glee club which is struggling. It's about being closer to Rachel and being here more because Dalton was a refuge when I was a terrified little boy but now I'm halfway through being a teenager and I sort of miss being at home, while most kids are probably desperate to get away."

He sifted through his thoughts and tried to put them into words. "I feel…I feel so cut off from you at Dalton. It's like I'm adopted but I'm not really part of a family, because I'm sequestered away and I know that's what I wanted, I _know_, but sometimes your needs change." He rubbed his forehead and shrugged. "It's not just about Kurt. I'm not really happy at Dalton anymore. It's difficult and challenging and it doesn't feel rewarding to constantly be striving for better in a place so competitive. At times, it's depressing, because I feel like everyone has such a determined mindset of _needing_ to be the best and that's not why I ever went to Dalton, that's not the environment I want or need."

He fiddled with the buttons on his blazer. "And I'll miss Nick and Thad and David and Jon and Trent but it's not really the same without Wes there now. He was my best friend before Kurt arrived and everything just kind of feels hollow now that he's not there." He bit at his lip and sighed. "I don't know, Dad. I'm just not really happy there anymore. It's still supportive and wonderful but it doesn't feel _real_. It's not nurturing me the way I want."

Leroy nodded as he steepled his fingers in front of him. "And you think you would be happier returning to a public school with your sister?"

"I don't know," Blaine frowned. "I don't know where I'd be happiest. But I know my attitude to Dalton isn't likely to ease or improve. It'll just spiral downwards. McKinley can't make it any worse when my boyfriend and sister will be there."

Leroy hummed as he started twirling a pen between his fingers. "I will always support you and your decisions, Blaine, you know that. If you feel that the environment isn't suitable to your current feelings, then the last thing I want is you to fall into a depressed heap and we have a whole host of other issues on our hands further down the track." He put the pen down and stared at Blaine. "However, I don't want you transferring to McKinley because you think it will be easier academically or for you to move back here and rebel against the very few rules Hiram and I have for you and your sister."

Blaine felt like one of those bobble-headed dogs that you put on a car dashboard with how much his head was nodding.

"You are an intelligent young man, Blaine," Leroy said suddenly, reaching across the table and touching Blaine's hand. "You've always been more insightful and notice things many of us prefer to ignore. It's why I've always trusted your judgement better than Rachel's. Although don't tell her that."

Blaine smiled and his father squeezed his hand and then pulled it back.

"I'll talk to your papa about it," he conceded finally. "If he agrees with me, then we will organise the paperwork for your transfer."

If Blaine was more like his sister, he may have squealed. Indeed, if he was more like Kurt he may have bounced excitedly in his seat. Instead he grinned and kissed his father's cheek, skipping away from the house and driving back to Dalton feeling relieved and a little bit hopeful that maybe he could still make Kurt's year magical.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **If you're interested in hearing the cover of _You're My Best Friend _by Queen, search for the a capella group 'Straight No Chaser' and go to their website (smcmusic) and find it. It's truly _incredible_.

I know this chapter was really jumpy and long and covered a lot of content but I hope you still enjoyed it. As always, thank you for reading. I'm truly blessed! xx


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** A Sibling By Any Other Name  
><strong>Author:<strong> an-alternate-world  
><strong>Rating:<strong> M (starts mild, rating will go up in future chapters)  
><strong>CharactersPairings:** Blaine/Kurt  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 7,829  
><strong>Summary:<strong> When Blaine is forced into finding a new family, he never expected to meet the people he did. He never expected his life to turn out this way. He never expected to fall so hopelessly in love so early in life. He never expected any of this. AnderBerry siblings, eventual Klaine.  
><strong>WarningsSpoilers: **A vague re-writing of canon Glee, but there are some huge differences, which you'll see as you go along. Angst, fluff, a little bit of smut.  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I am in no way associated with _Glee, FOX_, Ryan Murphy or anything else related to the _Glee _universe.

* * *

><p>Striding down the hallways and finding Kurt spraying his hair was delightfully fun, even if Kurt didn't actually pick up that he'd transferred until he basically waved it in Kurt's face because hello, he was wearing his favourite bowtie and loafers and was Kurt really that <em>blind<em>?

Telling his sister on the other hand would have to have led to permanent tinnitus. Her screams had to have reached New York and shattered any glass in a three hundred foot radius, surely.

"Why the _hell_ didn't you tell me?" she shrieked as she shook him by the shoulders.

"Surprise?" he said, smiling weakly.

"You are ridiculous," she scoffed, turning away and returning to the lunch table beside Finn.

"So you aren't mad?" he said, sidling over and tucking his arm around Kurt's waist.

"Mad?" She stared him up and down and wrinkled her nose at his pants. "You could have done without the red."

"You could have done without the lime green," he returned, deciding that Kurt and he really had to burn some of Rachel's more hideously coloured outfits.

"It brings out my eyes," she said, patting her hair and cuddling into Finn's body.

"It brings out your jaundice," Kurt said quietly. Blaine snorted and Rachel glared.

"Alright, fine. Shoo! I've had enough of you already."

Kurt rolled his eyes and tugged Blaine away to show him parts of the school.

* * *

><p>Blaine never thought that the thing that would force him and Kurt to re-evaluate their relationship would be the school musical of all things. Blaine was well aware that Kurt <em>needed<em> the role of Tony for his NYADA application and yet Artie asking him to read for the part…he felt so guilty and yet he did it anyway. And when he got outside and Kurt wasn't waiting for him, he knew Kurt must have heard and gone home to avoid seeing him. The guilt ate away at his heart because it didn't seem right or fair for Kurt to be turned down for things that he worked so hard for, that he deserved and needed.

He shuffled into his room and dropped his bag by the door and climbed onto his bed with a sigh. It all felt like too much, that maybe he shouldn't have transferred. Kurt would grow to resent him because Blaine was someone Kurt had to compete with for solos, leads and Rachel's attention at school. Several times, Rachel had sat beside Blaine which caused Kurt to sit elsewhere in the choir room. She monopolised his time at home, excitedly discussing solos where he could back her up or duets they could sing together, going over choreography until Blaine's legs wobbled with exhaustion. And it just felt like too much. It felt like he'd made the wrong choice and what happened if he and Kurt broke up? How would he handle being in Glee with the boy that had stolen his heart before Blaine even realised it? How would he manage seeing Kurt around the school or when he came over with Finn?

He sobbed into his pillow until his body drooped and he fell into a horrible sleep filled with monsters and shadows that sounded like Kurt but said the words of his mother.

* * *

><p>"Kurt…" He stared down at the flowers and couldn't help smelling them. Once again, it felt too much, but for an entirely different reason. He could feel tears burning in his eyes and all he wanted to do was kiss him, hug him, hold onto him and reassure himself that they would be okay. But he knew Kurt still felt a bit uncomfortable and Blaine was secretly terrified of some sort of repeat of attacks on them from the other football players, even though Karofsky was gone.<p>

He grabbed for Kurt's hand and led him to the abandoned choir room, finding the blind spot between the two doors and pushing Kurt into the whiteboard as he kissed him.

"I love you," he breathed, kissing softly at Kurt's neck. "I love you and I'm so sorry and I didn't want your role."

Kurt's fingers curled into the fabric at his hip and nuzzled his face up until their eyes met. "I know you're the better choice. It's okay. I don't hate you for it." His lips pressed gently into Blaine's cheek as he continued to slide his nose over Blaine's face. "I want you to make me happy. I want you to make me proud, because I know you're going to be stunning and everything I wish I could have been in the role."

"Kurt…"

"Shh…" Kurt whispered, index finger falling across his mouth. "Don't be sorry, okay? Kill it. Stand beside Rachel and show the audience that the two of you were made for the stage."

Blaine eyed him nervously before nodding. He wiggled his lips against Kurt's finger until it fell away and kissed Kurt's nose.

"I love you," he murmured, eyes glittering with the tears he wouldn't let fall.

"And I love you," Kurt replied, lips meeting Blaine's in a kiss that made Blaine feel silly for all the tears he cried the day before.

* * *

><p>Blaine liked Rory. Maybe it was because he'd always had this <em>thing<em> about Irish accents or maybe it was because Rory was so quietly unassuming and bright-eyed or maybe it was because Blaine couldn't understand half of what he said but he was just amused by his accent. But the introduction of Rory to the Glee club meant the departure of Santana, Brittany and Mercedes and Blaine was getting more and more crap from Finn, which he couldn't understand no matter how much he tried. He'd asked Kurt about it and Kurt had shrugged, saying something about Finn being jealous of the time Blaine spent with Rachel. Well, Rachel was his _sister_ so Finn needed to sort that one out in his head.

But he knew that Kurt was sad that Mercedes had abandoned them. He could see Artie was sad Brittany was gone. It made _him_ sad that no one was sad Santana had left. The dynamics were now off because of the imbalance with male and female vocalists and even though Kurt could mix between the two, he could see the annoyance on Rachel's face that her Glee club was falling apart in her senior year.

To add to everything, the musical was opening in a couple of weeks and Rachel was so focused on Glee club that she kept forgetting to practice her lines, which Artie would criticise her harshly for. Emma often had to reign him in and Blaine knew it was because he missed Brittany but he knew it still stung Rachel. It was easily the most awkward moment of Blaine's life to stand beside his sister and be asked if he'd had sex yet. He stared at Rachel and she stared back and while part of him was glad she was still a virgin, another part was sure that she must have lost it to Finn or Puck a while ago with all the constant relationship jumping that happened in New Directions. And sure, he and Kurt had fooled around a little – touching on top of each other's clothing and stuff – but actual _nakedness_? Blaine was pretty sure Kurt would shrivel up into a crusty ball of shame if he even suggested it.

Which was why he paused to stare at Kurt when he was kicking his feet on Blaine's bed and asking about ripping each other's clothes off and oh _God_ he could not afford to get hard in these pants because it would _hurt_ but Kurt was really not helping his train of thought.

Which was why he spat out a line about masturbating. Over Kurt.

And Kurt didn't flush at the thought of it.

He crawled onto his bed and started mentally figuring out how to unbutton Kurt's coat thing, how to unzip his pants, how to push him onto the bed and see him naked and raw and open and writhing. His stomach squirmed with excitement as he grabbed Kurt's face, pressing their lips together and tipping Kurt onto his back into the mattress.

"I love you," he whispered, fingers picking at the buttons on Kurt's clothing. "I love you and I want you, _so_ badly."

Kurt whimpered and his fingers flew over the buttons as he discarded items of clothing and pulled Blaine's shirt over his head. His nails scraped down Blaine's chest as Blaine's mouth licked and sucked down Kurt's neck and his rapidly hardening erection painfully dug into his pants and Kurt's thigh.

"_Blaine_," Kurt whined, arching into Blaine's body when his tongue slid over one of Kurt's nipples. Blaine watched as Kurt wriggled beneath him and his palm pressed into the various obvious bulge in Kurt's own pants. "Blaine, _please_."

"Please what?" Blaine paused, eyeing Kurt nervously.

"I need you, I need this, _please_," Kurt moaned, fingers clawing at his belt and shoving his pants off roughly.

"K-Kurt," Blaine choked, eyes unable to move from the dark flush of Kurt's cock bending towards his bellybutton and _Jesus_. He swallowed down the saliva pooled in his mouth as it drifted to lick a hot stripe along Kurt's dick.

"_Fuck_," Kurt screeched, hands fisting into the sheets he was laying on. "Fuck, God, _Blaine_."

"Shh," Blaine mumbled, running through all the things he'd read about this. His hand started touching before his brain had caught up and Kurt was mewling with desperation as Blaine settled his forearm over Kurt's stomach and lowered his mouth. He collected the pre-come along the slit first, eyes flickering up to Kurt when he felt his body jolting against the bed.

He breathed slowly and deeply before opening his mouth wide and sinking down, leaving a trail of shiny, warm saliva that cooled quickly when he bobbed back up. Kurt was muttering incoherent nonsense as Blaine lowered himself down again, taking his time to run his tongue across the skin that was so smooth and so delicate and yet so dark and so delicious that Blaine found a hasty rhythm that allowed him to rut down into the bed to get some much-needed friction of his own. He could hear Kurt, his gasps and pleas, a set of fingers sliding into the gel of Blaine's hair and twisting hard.

"Blaine, I…I'm…"

Blaine nodded. He wanted this, he wanted Kurt, and he forced his own rocking to stop as he sucked and swallowed until Kurt was burying his face in his arm and screaming, and the flood of warm, salty liquid across Blaine's tongue and hitting the back of his throat was sort of unpleasant and yet remarkably perfect as he swallowed and licked up every drop he could. He was still achingly hard when Kurt pushed him away from oversensitivity and his fingers slipped beneath the band of his pants and boxers, wrapping around himself and jerking quickly and roughly until he sobbed with relief, body quivering with the release it had been so desperate for.

Kurt petted his sweaty shoulder until he shifted up the bed and kissed him. And Kurt moaned, tongue tasting the come that Blaine had swallowed and finding it such a dirty turn-on as his hand clenched into Blaine's curls.

"I love you," he breathed, eyes so clear with bliss.

"I love you," Blaine replied huskily, hand sliding over the smooth skin on Kurt's hip as he cuddled him close. He knew they couldn't stay like this long. Who knew when Rachel might come home from her date with Finn and barge in? But for now, for now he wanted to bask and nuzzle into Kurt's neck and feel warm with love.

* * *

><p>Blaine had always been happy with Kurt, even before he knew that Kurt was also Eliza or before he knew that he loved Kurt or before he even really knew Kurt, he was happy. His happiness was tied with Kurt's smiles and Kurt's touches and Kurt's warmth.<p>

But being back at Dalton, seeing familiar faces who gave him a wave, reminded Blaine of what he had left behind in favour of…what? Kurt? Rachel? It all seemed so silly now that New Directions was sliding apart and Finn seemed to have something against everything Blaine said. And yet he strode through the halls and felt detached, like he didn't belong even after only being away little more than a month. It felt strange, walking down the staircase where Kurt stopped him and he had the creeping feeling of déjà vu, like someone was going to pause him on the staircase again and this time ask if Blaine himself was lost.

Yet no one did and Blaine soon heard what sounded like Nick's voice so he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked through the halls until, yes, there they were, his beloved Warblers.

Except they were back to their old songs, where mostly one person sang lead and they did little shuffles and while Blaine was proud of Nick and Thad and whoever the new guy was that took several lines, it felt like they'd returned back to basics rather than pushing the limits of their abilities. What Kurt wouldn't give to hear about this later on.

He congratulated the boys when they finished, _so_ intensely proud of Nick as he talked about how McKinley was going – completely skipping over the Glee club drama and Finn because he knew there would either be injured faces or injured hands if he did – before they dispersed and he was left alone with the new guy, who apparently was called Sebastian and invited him to coffee and Blaine felt increasingly uncomfortable the longer he sat opposite Sebastian and his twisted ways with words. And really, no matter what he might have said, Blaine was happy with Kurt, he really and truly was. Sebastian leaving was a blessing that made Blaine sag with relief, even as he stared at the marble flooring and wondered who the hell this guy was and what sort of trouble he was going to cause.

* * *

><p>Rachel's weird avoidance of him outside of rehearsals intensified after the night at Scandals with Kurt. It hadn't been a good idea to drink the night before opening. It hadn't been a good idea for Kurt to agree to go. It hadn't been a good idea to meet Sebastian for coffee, even though it was a subtle way of getting Sebastian into public and making sure he knew Blaine wasn't interested in him and Kurt arriving was a 'merrily happy coincidence' even though Sebastian hadn't seemed to get the message. Again. And Blaine hadn't had much to drink, although he had forgotten how much he'd had and how much of a lightweight he was and how much he'd promised himself he'd never drink again after that damn Warbler party two years ago. He'd fumbled to call Rachel and she'd picked him up, screaming in rage about missing lines during the performance from exhaustion.<p>

He didn't even care as he stared out the window with tears in his eyes, wondering if this time he'd truly messed up with Kurt. He knew it wasn't the right time or the right situation but the show opened in less than twenty hours and he was terrified that Artie's words would make it so obvious on stage that he and Rachel were both still virgins. He knew he was going to fail Artie. He was going to fail his sister. He'd made her drive out to Westerville to pick his drunk ass up. He should have just called Nick and crashed at Dalton for the night, which would have made far more sense.

* * *

><p>Knowing that Rachel had failed Artie's 'mission' only made Blaine feel partially better, although he also felt he was getting far too much information on his sister's sex life – or lack thereof – that he really didn't want to know about. He could see Kurt in the wings but any time their eyes met, Kurt looked away and Blaine's heart slipped further and further towards his feet. He stumbled over lines, he missed cues, he messed up choreography and he endured Rachel's withering glare while trying not to break down in tears on-stage. He waited until the curtains closed before he rushed off-stage, running out the backstage door and slumping to the floor and sobbing with the pain of a broken heart and a broken performance.<p>

He realised after ten minutes that he probably shouldn't be outside in case they locked up and his things got left behind for the night, so he darted back inside, accepting the congratulations with a weak smile as he stripped the costume off and pulled on his capris and a sweater. Rachel had already left, as had many of the other cast, to go to the Breadstix celebrations but he wanted to perfect some of the blocking he had so badly failed at tonight, because he worried Rachel would slap him if he got it wrong again.

He should have known Kurt would hang around, although he didn't expect it after the way Kurt had avoided him all day. He desperately wanted to take Kurt into his arms but all he could do was stammer his way through an apology and try and prove to Kurt that Sebastian hadn't taken the hint, that he'd been wrong, _again_, and somewhere Blaine wondered if he could be considered an abusive boyfriend for the amount of times he lost his temper and then apologised. Wasn't that the sign of emotional abuse or something? But Kurt didn't seem fazed as he pressed his lips to Blaine's over and over.

"I love you," Kurt murmured, hand brushing over Blaine's cheek. "I love you and I told you to make me proud and you _did_. I know you want to beat yourself up over all the little things you got wrong but you were amazing out there. You were the perfect choice, the perfect Tony, and I can't believe you're actually _mine_."

Blaine sniffed back his tears as Kurt's forehead leant against his own.

"I didn't want it in the backseat of a car when you were drunk. I didn't want it in the backseat of a car in the first place," Kurt admitted. "But I'm ready now. I'm ready. And I want you so much. I _need_ you so badly. Please, can we go back to your house? Rachel's going to mine to see Finn after the game and I just…just please, Blaine?"

There was a time Blaine had realised he couldn't deny Kurt anything, and this was just another example in what he presumed was going to be a long list of times he couldn't deny Kurt things.

His stomach knotted with anxiety on the short drive home and it all felt so strange and mundane as he locked the car and led Kurt into the house, toeing off his shoes and tugging Kurt up the staircase.

"Are you sure?" he asked, shutting his bedroom door as Kurt wandered inside.

"Please," Kurt said softly, flicking the buttons until his vest slipped to the floor. "I love you."

Blaine trembled as he eased Kurt onto the bed, crawling over him and pressing kisses up his exposed arm. "You're beautiful," he muttered, fingers inching beneath the fabric of Kurt's tee and pulling it over his head to expose the pale, soft skin of Kurt's chest. "No, you're magnificent," he amended.

Kurt giggled and helped Blaine get out of his sweater and singlet, fingers drifting over Blaine's chest as their mouths met in sweet kisses that gradually turned hungrier, needier, until Kurt's hands worked beneath the band of his pants and over the skin of his ass.

"You're totally sure?" he checked again, nervous and exhilarated as Kurt nodded.

Another few minutes found them naked and pressed against each other, warmth tangling their limbs as Kurt's toes floated over Blaine's leg and making him squeak with laughter.

"That _tickles_," he scolded with a smile. Kurt grinned as he squeezed Blaine's ass, making his eyes roll in his head and a groan fall from his lips. "God, Kurt…"

Kurt sucked a small mark beneath his ear as he writhed, rutting slowly into Kurt's body.

"I don't…I don't know who's…" He trailed off, blushing.

"It's okay," Kurt assured him, reaching over for a bottle and a foil packet Blaine hadn't seen there before. When had Kurt put that there? "Do you know what you'd prefer?"

Blaine shook his head. He had no idea.

"Do you trust me?" Kurt questioned, flicking the cap off the bottle. Blaine focused on the dark blue eyes of Kurt as he nodded.

Kurt's cool, slick fingers pressing at his entrance sent a thrill down his spine. This was happening. This was _actually_ happening. And even though he was going to bottom, he was on top, and Kurt was both in control and giving him control. It sparked in his stomach as Kurt prepped him gently and carefully and thoroughly, until he was sobbing with need and desire.

"Kurt, _please_," he whined, rolling his hips down onto Kurt's fingers. "Kurt, fuck, _Kurt_."

"Shhh…" Kurt soothed, swiping his free index finger through the sweat covering Blaine's chest. His hand closed over the foil packet and he ripped it open with his teeth, taking the latex and rolling it down and _fuckkk_, that felt good. He forgot what he was doing for a few moments until Blaine pushed Kurt's hands away and coated his covered dick in fresh lube until Kurt was whimpering with his own desperation.

"Shhh…" Blaine mocked, positioning Kurt and lowering himself gingerly, fingers digging into Kurt's upper arms painfully until he was seated in Kurt's lap and panting hard. "Jesus, _fuck_."

Kurt closed his eyes for a moment, trying to still his rapid heartbeat and breathing and thoughts as Blaine adjusted to the stretch, the burn easing as he rocked back and forth slowly, slowly, slowly.

"I love you," he whispered, fingers looping through Kurt's un-lubed hand as his hips moved.

"Love you," Kurt breathed, stomach quivering with the intensity of all the feelings and the instinct to thrust up, up, up.

It took a few minutes for Blaine to fully adjust, until he was ready to push back when Kurt pushed in, a rhythm gradually becoming more steady as his thighs started to ache with the exertion. His mouth found Kurt's, sloppy and messy until he was moaning loudly because Kurt's lubed fingers had wrapped around his cock, and fuck, _fuck_.

"Kurt, _Kurt_, I…"

His back bowed and the tendons in his neck stood out sharply and the sweat dripped down to mingle with Kurt's as he came, tears of relief and love and joy slipping from his eyes as Kurt's thrusting became frantic and unsteady and he snapped, body shaking hard and choking on Blaine's name as he saw stars.

When it became too much, Blaine shifted off, feeling like he'd never be that full again. He grabbed some tissues from the side of his bed, wiping Kurt clean and disposing of the condom until he snuggled into the bed beside Kurt. And Kurt smiled happily, kissing him in a manner Blaine supposed was lovingly, legs and arms mixing and becoming complicated as Blaine pulled the blanket over them and fell into an exhausted but extremely satisfied sleep.

* * *

><p>It always amazed Blaine how everything seemed to explode at the same time. Sebastian was constantly sending him lewd messages, Rachel was ignoring him, Finn had now outed Santana so Kurt wasn't speaking to his step-brother, and the campaign for senior class president wasn't going so well. And then everything exploded. Kurt found some of Sebastian's texts and ripped him apart before Glee, Rachel launched into him on the way home that she'd spoken to Sebastian and heard some of the things Blaine had gotten up to at Dalton - "I mean, it's no wonder you wanted to leave when you'd slept with so many people" – and Santana was destroying people with her self-hatred. Enough was enough. He needed to start fixing things.<p>

* * *

><p>He knew Kurt's schedule inside out which meant that Kurt was deliberately avoiding him when they hadn't crossed paths for two days. Fed up with the silent treatment, he cornered Kurt after Glee rehearsals.<p>

"_What_, Blaine?" Kurt said exasperatedly.

"Whatever you think is happening is wrong. There's _nothing_ happening with Sebastian, Kurt. _Nothing_. You can check my outgoing messages telling him to stop if you don't believe me."

Kurt stared him down before his icy expression dissolved with a sigh. "I didn't want to believe it but Rachel told me stories and-"

"Did she also mention those stories came from Sebastian?" Blaine interrupted. The slight widening of Kurt's eyes indicated that no, she hadn't. "He's manipulative. He's trying to come between me and everyone else I love probably so that he's the only one I have left to turn to. But he underestimates how much I'll fight for you all, how much I would never in a million years turn to him even if he was the only person left in the world. I love you, Kurt. I love _you_, not him. And this avoidance thing is killing me and if you want to break up-"

He was swiftly silenced by Kurt's lips fiercely meeting his, desperate and rough and making him chase after Kurt's mouth when he pulled away.

"I love you too," Kurt breathed, nosing the collar of Blaine's shirt and inhaling deeply against his neck. "I didn't want to believe any of it, I just got so scared."

"I know," Blaine soothed, hand running over Kurt's back. "I know. It's how I felt last year with the Sam thing."

Kurt nodded and gripped the back of Blaine's shirt as he held him.

"I love you," Kurt said.

"Love you too," Blaine replied, a whisper against Kurt's ear.

* * *

><p>Confronting Rachel was harder than Kurt had been, because she seemed to be spending more and more time out of the house with Finn. Finally he waited up in her bedroom until he heard her arrive home around eleven and waited a little longer to hear her creeping up the stairs.<p>

"You missed curfew," he said when she entered the room.

She muffled a shriek behind her hand. "_Blaine_. What are you doing in my room?"

"Waiting for you," he said, watching as she unbuttoned her coat and hung it back up in her wardrobe.

"Why?" she said, unwinding her scarf and replacing her boots on her shoe rack.

"Because you're avoiding me and I know why and enough is enough," he said, crossing his arms to stare at her. "Sebastian is a lying pig and I never slept around at Dalton."

"He gave me _names_, Blaine. _Names_," she said, searching her dressing table for something. "He gave me _details_ of what you'd done! How can you deny it when there's such proof!"

She threw a piece of paper at him and he fell off the bed trying to catch it. He rubbed his shoulder and looked at the piece of paper before bursting into laughter.

"_Why_ are you laughing? This is _serious_!" she hissed. "And you'll wake our parents!"

He bit his hand to stifle his giggles. "Okay, _this_ name? _This_ is the full name of a guy I texted you about, that you'd know as Charlie?" Rachel blinked and sat down on her stool. "He's the guy that had PTSD. You couldn't touch him before he started screaming, so there's no way I ever slept with him."

"He's not the only name-"

"And this one, Wes? He was my best friend at Dalton. He took care of me once when I got so drunk I probably almost had alcohol poisoning. Wes kept me _safe_, Wes looked out for me. Wes also has had the same girlfriend for three years and is very much in love with her. The last time I heard from him, they were living together off-campus at college."

"But-"

"Okay, so then there's Jeff and Nick, who drift back and forth between each other and a Crawford girl every few months, but I've never been interested in getting between them and their flings and bisexual problems."

"And-"

"I don't think Trent's ever come out so how Sebastian even got a hold of _this_ story I wouldn't even know."

"Blaine-"

"And this one I don't know how he got hold of either although I suppose there's a small grain of truth in it. I did kiss Michael back when I was a freshman. One of the boys had a party, the one Wes looked after me at, and I was trying to figure myself out because Kurt had just come out, and yeah, I made out with a guy and his name was Michael." His fingers clenched around the paper and balled it up in his fist. "If I hadn't been so drunk and thrown up into the sink and Wes showed up…" He threw the crumbled paper at Rachel's bin and sighed. "Wes told me later, much later, after Michael had graduated, that Michael had barely touched a drink all night. Wes had followed me to the kitchen because he knew how drunk I was and he didn't want me to choke on my own vomit or pass out or cut myself and no one was around. He…he watched as Michael pushed me down and…" Blaine glanced up at Rachel, tears slipping down his cheeks. "I never told anyone. I've never even told Kurt. Wes said he was about to intervene when I started gagging and moved. He knew I was too drunk to give proper consent and M-Michael had a reputation that Wes had heard rumours about a-and he didn't want me to…to…"

He couldn't say it, he never had been, ever since Wes had told him. He choked on a sob as Rachel crawled onto her mattress and pulled him into a hug, his face on her shoulder as he cried. He could hear her sniffles, he could feel her chest shaking with her own sobs, but she held him firmly, running her hands through his curls gently.

"I told Kurt…I told him that I was a virgin. You heard me tell Artie, and it's true, Rach, it's _true_," he whispered, wiping his eyes and sitting up straighter to look at her. "I've kissed people. I've made mistakes. But you've kissed people too and made your own mistakes. It doesn't mean you've slept around. It doesn't mean you're a whore. And it hasn't made you leave your school, and it's not why I left mine."

"Blaine-"

"You need to stop being so goddamn naïve, Rach. You need to stop believing everything you hear and actually _talk_ to the people involved and find out what the truth it. Didn't your Glee club do a week on rumours last year?"

She nodded and smeared her tears away roughly. "I'm sorry I didn't listen. I'm sorry I judged you. I was wrong."

"Yeah, you were," he agreed, brushing the tears off her cheekbones.

She punched his shoulder lightly and he smiled.

"We cool now? No more believing the worst in your little bro all the time?" he teased.

She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck again. "I wish I knew Michael and could punch his nose in."

He chuckled against her. "I wish I'd been more coherent and knew what he was doing and punched his nose in myself."

* * *

><p>Sometimes Blaine just wanted to grab Santana by her neck and shake her around a little. He would never understand why she was so determined to tear everybody down with her words <em>all<em> the time. He squeezed Kurt's hand and wondered if Santana's need to destroy everyone was because she was falling apart on the inside. He remembered what it was like trying to figure himself out. He remembered the fear of coming out and what everyone might say around him. He remembered and he knew Kurt remembered. And maybe they hadn't lashed out as badly as Santana tended to do, and everyone had their own way of handling a sexuality crisis, but Santana's apparent craving for causing self-destruction was exhausting and it made Blaine's heart hurt at how everyone tried and she tore them down.

* * *

><p>Kurt running into him in the middle of the corridors, sobbing so hard Blaine could tell he wasn't breathing properly, had Blaine panicking as he hauled Kurt in the direction of the choir room. Had Karofsky done something? Had someone died? Was Burt back in the hospital? Azimio had graduated, hadn't he? Kurt was meant to be <em>safe<em>, what if he was hurt?

He eased Kurt into a chair and knelt in front of him, tearing Kurt's hands from his face and clutching them tightly between his own.

"Kurt, what's going on? What's happened?"

Kurt whimpered and Blaine felt himself twitching anxiously.

"Kurt, _please_."

"I _lost_," Kurt wailed through his crying. "I _lost_ the election which means my hopes of admission to NYADA are completely screwed." He shoved Blaine away to stand, pacing around the choir room and holding his arms over his stomach. "I don't know why I even bother anymore. I'm such a failure. I'm good for nothing and I should have let Karofsky kill me or killed myself and-"

"_Hey_," Blaine yelled, walking over to Kurt and grabbing his shoulders. "Don't you dare start talking about yourself like that. Don't you start talking about yourself and tearing yourself down. You're worth so much more than any of this."

"But I'm _not_!" Kurt shouted. Blaine felt himself stumble back a few steps. "I'm worth _nothing_ and I'm not going to be on Broadway or go to New York because I can't get into a college with the crap that I've done and I'd be better off dead!"

"Kurt-"

Kurt fell to his knees, crying so hard he was nearly gagging, as Blaine swooped behind him and cradled Kurt in his lap. He remembered a year ago when rocking Kurt back and forth and humming had soothed him, so he started humming _Perfect _beneath his breath because it had become _their_ song in the past few months and then they'd performed it last week for Glee. He had no idea what to say if Kurt wouldn't listen to him through his self-hatred and it made him feel so weak and powerless sitting there on the floor.

He lost track of time, singing quietly through songs he knew Kurt liked until Kurt's sobs had slowed to the occasional hiccup and sniffle. He tilted Kurt's head, kissing away his tears and then pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"You're perfect to me," he whispered.

Kurt gave a watery smile. "I just feel like such a failure."

"I know," Blaine said, wiping at Kurt's cheeks with his sleeve. "I know. But no one on Broadway will care if you were senior class president. No one deciding on giving you a Tony will care if you went to NYADA straight out of high school or even went to NYADA at all. You did a Barbra-vention with Rachel last year. Barbra didn't go to NYADA. Idina Menzel who sang _Defying Gravity_ didn't either. And yet they're still incredible, and you will be too."

Kurt blinked slowly, taking in a deep breath. "But maybe I won't be anything."

"You'll still be _everything_ to me."

Kurt's arms wound around Blaine's neck as he breathed into Blaine's collar. "What would I do without you sometimes?"

"Be just as lost as I would be if I didn't have you," Blaine murmured, stroking down Kurt's spine and snuggling him close.

* * *

><p>He'd never tell anyone, but the patience he'd built up over the years dealing with Rachel's ridiculous stubbornness had finally come in handy. Kurt had tried insisting that filling out an application for NYADA was ridiculous but Blaine had pushed harder against Kurt's weak protests until he'd started penning in the forms. Blaine's hand moved over his back, watching him write down things like his address and birth day and feeling glad that Rachel's annoying habits had been useful for a change.<p>

His patience hadn't lasted when Rachel had come home and told him how she'd stuffed the ballots and been suspended for two weeks, meaning she was going to miss Sectionals. Leroy had been home and expressed his disappointment while Blaine had just gazed at Rachel, absolutely flabbergasted and speechless. He could understand her intentions – vaguely – at wanting to assure Kurt a win and achieve his dreams of NYADA, but sometimes his sister blew him away with how stupid and naïve she continued to be. Kurt's words from earlier still rang in his ears and he wondered if either of them would get into NYADA now with Rachel's black mark on her record. He shook his head as he turned away, too angered by the way she had inadvertently made Kurt break down in his arms that afternoon to talk to her.

* * *

><p>Hearing Sebastian's voice floating through the Lima Bean made his stomach turn over and he glanced at Kurt, stopping mid-conversation to stare at the stupid Warbler that turned his boyfriend and sister against him.<p>

"Blaine," Sebastian cooed, eyes flickering to Kurt. "I see you're still having coffee with him."

"Yes, that tends to happen when two people are dating and enjoy each other's company and good coffee," Kurt smiled, patting the seat beside him for Blaine to take. Blaine grabbed his coffee and cuddled up to Kurt, not wanting to be in the firing line.

"Dating, huh?" Sebastian mused, twirling his cup around in his hands. "Haven't you told him, Blaine?"

"Told him what?" Blaine said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, so you haven't?" Sebastian leaned back in his chair as he smirked. "Well well, Kurt. Here's the thing. Blaine here likes getting texts from me. He also likes sleeping around Dalton from what I've heard. He's really no good for you."

Kurt nodded as if he was seriously considering Sebastian's words. "Here's the thing I heard," Kurt began. "_I_ heard that Blaine had a boyfriend who had read those text messages, as well as Blaine's replies of "Please stop, I don't like this" and "I'm not interested Sebastian" to the extent that Blaine had that number blocked." Kurt grinned at Sebastian's stunned look as he leaned over the table. "I _also_ heard about that little list you made up and passed on to Blaine's sister, and the people on it are people _I_ know and consider friends. Do they know about the slanderous things you've said about them, Smythe? Do they know how you're trying to taint their friend's reputation?"

"Well, I-"

"If something just, oh I don't know, happened to go around Dalton that you had started allegations about someone's sexual history, which were lies, and which everyone _knew _were lies, and that someone happened to be one of the most popular boys before he left rather recently…what do you think they'd do to you?" Kurt said coyly, resting his chin in his palm. "I mean, there's a no bullying policy on the grounds but there are boys there I can call on. Boys that know not to touch your face and keep it clean. Boys that know how to hurt without leaving a mark." His spare hand drummed on the countertop of the table as he pondered his options. "But I don't think it'll come to that, because I think the person making such foul and disgusting accusations will keep his mouth shut from now on, don't you?"

Sebastian's eyes moved from Kurt's to Blaine's, clearly frightened.

"Oh, and as for being no good for me?" Kurt leaned back and squeezed Blaine's leg. "I guarantee you, the boy knows _exactly_ how to fulfil my needs and let me fulfil mine and let me tell you, he's too good for the likes of _you_ and your disgusting ass. So run along to your hallowed halls and keep your head down and your mouth closed, unless you wanted to lose things like your ability to sing, or walk, or," Kurt's eyes roamed over Sebastian's body, "be a sperm donor in the future."

Blaine swallowed down his chuckle as Sebastian grabbed his coffee and ran from the café.

"Have I told you lately that I love you?" he giggled when Kurt crossed his legs primly and returned to filling out the application for a job at the coffee shop.

"I'm sure you can thank me for it later," Kurt replied with a grin.

* * *

><p>The ease with which Sam had been accepted into the folds of New Directions angered Blaine. Sam's voice wasn't as strong as his and his dancing was questionable, his leadership was doubtful and yet Finn clearly liked to agree with everything the blonde said. He'd never really met Sam before but couldn't help the way his nose wrinkled with dislike at how simple it was for Sam and not for the first time, Blaine felt himself wondering if the reason Finn didn't like him was because he was gay. He'd heard from Kurt how sometimes Finn was accidentally homophobic but it felt like too much seeing the friendship between Finn and Sam when Blaine was dating Finn's stepbrother and had worked so damned <em>hard<em> to be listened to and make New Directions into a group that performed respectable numbers well. Added to that was how Rachel had driven with Finn to _encourage_ the return because she couldn't perform and it made him feel like Rachel was secretly conspiring against him. He knew it was paranoid but he'd learned about paranoia regarding solos from the best and when it reached Sam and his stupid sex moves, it had pushed Blaine beyond his emotional capacity and he snapped.

His fist connected with a locker as he stormed out of the stupid choir room. It left a mild dent in the metal and split his knuckles which leaked blood as he walked the corridors to the courtyard. He slumped onto the steps, head on his knees as he nursed his bloodied hand and sobbed. He couldn't deal with all the misconceptions at the moment. He often found himself wishing he'd never left Dalton and yet he realised that if he hadn't, he'd have to deal with Sebastian on a daily basis without Wes to sweep in and save him. He missed Wes sometimes _so_ much because Wes had always accepted him, regardless of his faults or his confusion or his hurt, and at McKinley, it felt like he was constantly being judged and put down for even the most simplest of suggestions. It reminded him of when Kurt had gone to Dalton and explained that they were doing girl songs and they hadn't listened to him. Now Blaine understood _why_ and he found he had a greater respect for the strict guidelines of the Warblers and an increasing resentment for Schuester and his poor management of a group of teenagers.

A large hand closed over his shoulder and he scrambled to his feet, cradling his hand to his chest.

"What do _you_ want?" he spat, a foot shorter than Finn with the added steps between them.

"To apologise," Finn mumbled, hands in the pockets as he stared at his shoes. "You're clearly under a lot of pressure right now and I was wrong to treat you so badly." He shifted until he was sitting on a step and scuffed his shoe on the concrete.

"So why did you?" Blaine said, smearing the blood on his knuckles as he rubbed it.

"I was jealous of you and Kurt," Finn admitted quietly. "I was afraid you'd try and break Rachel and me up because I know you've never really liked me." He glanced up at Blaine and squinted with the sun reflecting off the steps. "You're a better singer than me. A better dancer. A better brother to Rachel than I am to Kurt. You're a better _person_ and I...I'm just a screw up that hurts people with my stupidity. But we _need_ you, Blaine. You're a natural leader and performer and we need to listen to you. _I_need to listen to you. We can't beat the Troubletones if we're fighting amongst ourselves this much."

Blaine sat on a lower step and straightened his fingers with a wince. "So what am I meant to do?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **As always, I am astounded by the support I receive from such wonderful people. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Every day there are new alerts and favourites for this in my inbox (...if only you'd just review too...-Blainers puppy-dog eyes-...)

There's only another part after this, so it's drawing to a close. I hope all those who are so in love with this story don't eviscerate me with the forthcoming conclusion!


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** A Sibling By Any Other Name  
><strong>Author:<strong> an-alternate-world  
><strong>Rating:<strong> M (starts mild, rating will go up in future chapters)  
><strong>CharactersPairings:** Blaine/Kurt  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 7,831  
><strong>Summary:<strong> When Blaine is forced into finding a new family, he never expected to meet the people he did. He never expected his life to turn out this way. He never expected to fall so hopelessly in love so early in life. He never expected any of this. AnderBerry siblings, eventual Klaine.  
><strong>WarningsSpoilers: **A vague re-writing of canon Glee, but there are some huge differences, which you'll see as you go along. Angst, fluff, a little bit of smut.  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I am in no way associated with _Glee, FOX_, Ryan Murphy or anything else related to the _Glee _universe.

* * *

><p>Rachel getting banned from Sectionals meant increased badgering at home after rehearsals. He tried to explain that Finn and him were working it out, that the lack of females didn't mean they were going to lose, but Rachel wasn't convinced. Several times he caught her on the phone to Quinn, harping on about poor singing abilities and offering lessons, which partially explained Quinn's shitty mood at school recently. It had been noticeably tense between Quinn and Puck and as much as Blaine wanted to ignore it, it seemed New Directions had their ways of airing grievances publicly. Oh how he missed Dalton sometimes!<p>

Sebastian had apparently gotten the message from Kurt and left him alone, which decreased his anxiety about getting caught 'cheating' and making Kurt upset again. He'd also spent far more time with Kurt, even if it was merely choreography, in the hopes Kurt stopped feeling so alone and worthless. He'd forced Kurt into mailing the NYADA application and helping his sister fill out hers, even though it broke his heart a little that they were both going to leave and he was going to be left behind. Without warning, the terror of being abandoned would engulf him and leave him gasping for air and fumbling to turn on the light, casting shadows over his room. His difficulty sleeping did allow time to be spent on assignments and homework, but it was starting to show, light bruises forming beneath his eyes and his movements slightly sluggish from exhaustion.

It all came tumbling out three days before Sectionals, when he dozed off in History. Tina had touched his shoulder to wake him when class ended, and he'd fallen out of his seat with a scream. Horrified, Artie had gone to find Kurt while Tina crouched in front of him. He knew where he was, but it was the sudden fright, the abrupt wake-up from nightmares of looming bodies beating him into the concrete.

"Blaine?" Kurt dropped his bag by the door and rushed over to where he was trembling on the floor. "Hey honey, it's me. It's Kurt. What's going on?"

"He dozed off and I woke him," Tina explained, biting her lip anxiously. "I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

"Hey, it's okay," Kurt assured with a gentle smile before touching Blaine's ankle lightly. "Blaine, honey. Look at me. You're okay. Wherever you went in the dream, you're safe now."

Blaine's fingers shook as he fumbled for Kurt's hand and curled into the warmth of his body. His scent was so familiar and safe and calming and finally, finally, he could breathe again.

"I'll head to Math and let Martinez know Blaine's not well," Artie said, frowning with concern as he wheeled out of the classroom.

"You're safe," Kurt whispered again and again, cradling Blaine and rocking him gently. Tina felt awfully like she was intruding but Kurt indicated she should stay.

When Blaine could put his thoughts together, his first words were an apology. "I don't know what happened. I don't...I just got startled."

Kurt's nails scraped at the back if his neck soothingly. "Flashbacks? Bad dreams? Exhaustion?"

Blaine nodded, looking down at their clasped hands which rested in his lap.

"I've noticed you get progressively more tired on your feet for the past week. I'm surprised it didn't catch up with you sooner."

"I just…I don't know what's wrong with me…" Blaine admitted softly. "I can't…I keep thinking about my parents. About their faces and their deaths and I just…I wish they could see me. I wish they could see _us_…"

Kurt's head rested on the top of Blaine's as he rocked them back and forth. He glanced at Tina, feeling lost for words. "I know you miss them, baby. I miss my mom too. I can only imagine how bad it would have been if dad died last year." He tilted Blaine's head up gently and kissed his forehead. "Do you want to go home and get some sleep? I'm not sure you're really fit to be at school at the moment. You need some rest."

Blaine shrugged, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by his emotions and exhaustion. He stifled a yawn against Kurt's shoulder before Kurt started coaxing him to his feet with Tina's assistance. With slow steps, Kurt led him to the reception office and signed them out for the rest of the day. The receptionist watched Blaine swaying with fatigue as Tina held him up and patted Kurt's hand.

"Make sure Mr Anderson is right for Sectionals on Saturday," she said with a nod in his direction.

Kurt looked back at Blaine who was struggling to keep his eyes from sliding shut. "Thanks. I'll take care of him."

She gave him a brief smile and ushered them towards home.

Blaine fought to stay awake on the short trip to his house but his head barely touched his pillow before sleep claimed him. Kurt sent a quick message to Rachel explaining he'd taken Blaine home due to extreme tiredness, switched his phone to silent, and cuddled up behind Blaine, tucking the blankets around him and humming quietly to keep Blaine soothed.

* * *

><p>Admitting his worries out loud meant they eased up a little and he slept decently the next few nights. However, it seemed that no matter if he had Kurt or Rachel by his side, he was a bundle of nerves as he stared around the auditorium. He'd seen Sebastian and looked away immediately, catching Kurt's glare being sent at the taller Warbler who made Blaine feel distinctly uneasy. Rachel disappeared just after the Unitards performed and Blaine clutched Kurt's hand against his knee as he watched the Troubletones, who performed a surprisingly good mash-up.<p>

But then the time came, and Quinn's eyes were rimmed red and Puck was trying to find out what was wrong until she punched his shoulder and walked away to find her place. He squeezed Kurt's hand briefly and dashed to his mark, wondering if being sick on stage was a terrible idea. He loved performing but he was always nervous and he _hated_ it. Rachel never felt fear. She walked out on the stage and just _owned_ it with her presence.

He missed a few steps and thought he might have harmonised with Finn wrong, but they still received standing ovations and his arm linked with Kurt's out of a need for security and comfort. They'd done all they could do and now they had to wait.

Rachel was confident, even as she cut off circulation to Miss Pillsbury's fingers, and certainly had to be screaming the loudest when Mr Schue hoisted the trophy above their heads. It was another one to add to the small collection in the choir room, another reason to feel proud and delighted. He tried to talk to Santana, Brittany and Mercedes but none of the girls wanted anything to do with him or anyone else in New Directions. He chewed the inside of his cheek as Rachel rushed around, squealing as she hugged Finn and barrelled into Kurt and then flung her arms around Blaine with excitement.

"You were _amazing_," she gushed. "I'm so proud of you for pulling this together without my guidance. You've really grown up a lot in the last few years."

He touched her cheek and smiled. "So have you," he acknowledged.

She blushed and nuzzled her nose into his shoulder. "I'm trying, Blaine. I'm _trying_."

"I know. I appreciate it," he replied with a kiss to her hair.

She smiled and then ran off to congratulate the band boys that they'd roped in at the last minute to make up numbers. Kurt sidled over and slipped his fingers into Blaine's.

"I love you," he said, tilting his head to lean on Blaine's shoulder.

Blaine squeezed his hand, his thumb brushing over the knuckles of Kurt's fingers. "I love you too."'

* * *

><p>"Okay, so, I've had an idea," Kurt said as he flicked through his Math textbook to the assigned homework pages.<p>

"Hmm?" Blaine looked over _Life of Pi _with a raised eyebrow.

"About Christmas this year. I…I just…I want to do _small_ things. Things with meaning, rather than things that cost a bomb."

Blaine lowered the book and rubbed his right eye with his index finger. "Small things, huh? Like what?"

"I don't know," Kurt shrugged, dropping his head to rest against the open pages of his book and staring at Blaine. "Things with meaning. Things that mean more than their price tag."

Blaine rubbed his hand over the back of Kurt's leg, tickling behind his kneecap. Kurt giggled and squirmed away, crawling up the bed to snuggle against Blaine's tummy.

"Do you mind? I just…I don't want to go out and spend a fortune on something you mightn't like," Kurt mumbled, biting his lip.

"Do I mind? Kurt, I'd be happy with just _you_ for Christmas because I didn't really have you last year," he said, combing his fingers through Kurt's hair. "I'm sure I can come up with something."

Kurt clapped his hands together. "Brilliant. Okay. I hope you don't mind the second part, which is that I can't see you this weekend."

"But I thought you just said-"

"It won't be for shopping. It's um…well, I can't explain. But…I can't see you."

Blaine sighed, the pad of his thumb stroking over the apple of Kurt's cheek which was flushed pink. "Okay. I can still text you, right?"

"Of course!" Kurt beamed, leaning up and kissing Blaine softly. "Although I'll be driving a bit so I mightn't get back to you straight away."

"You're driving? Where are you going?" Blaine asked curiously as Kurt slumped back over the bottom of his bed and started writing out answers to his Math problems.

"That's for me to know and you never to find out," Kurt replied smugly.

Blaine frowned at him for a few minutes but when no more information was forthcoming, he picked his book off his stomach and tried to resume reading.

* * *

><p>Kurt's secretive weekend trip apparently included Rachel, if his sister tossing an overnight bag in the back of Kurt's car and driving away with him was any indication. He'd tried asking his fathers if they knew anything but they'd both shrugged and said they trusted Kurt and they trusted Rachel's friendship with him, so they knew she'd be fine. She called every four hours to say that she was okay, and Blaine would receive a text every now and then from Kurt in response to his own letting him know that they were travelling safe and that Kurt loved him. He was filled with mixed feelings because he had no idea what was going on and while he agreed with his fathers that Kurt could be trusted, he still didn't quite know what they were trusting him <em>with<em>. Did he have an audition for NYADA in New York? Was he trying to find a present out of state? But no, he'd said meaningful things. Blaine eventually settled on an audition process which explained why Rachel had gone as well.

He finished_ Life of Pi_, feeling vaguely like his mind had been blown up by complicated literary techniques, and set about plotting out the essay he had to answer on it, before discarding it in favour of a History paper he'd been avoiding. The lack of Rachel or Kurt that weekend certainly meant good things for the completion of several large homework assignments that was for sure.

* * *

><p>It always amazed Blaine that even though Rachel insisted she was Jewish, Thanksgiving was always smaller than Christmas, or Chanukah, or Christmakah, or whatever she deigned to call it that year (she'd gone through an <em>O.C. <em>phase and insisted on using Seth Cohen's word for several years). And she was hopelessly distracted that year at Thanksgiving by the Christmas special the Glee club had been asked to do. Even though it was Artie's directorial responsibility, Rachel still spent much of the meal telling her fathers about _her_plans for the Christmas special and what songs would showcase her voice best. Leroy and Hiram were polite and nodded frequently, but Blaine caught Leroy's subtle eyeroll and choked on a mouthful of peas.

He and Rachel went to the Hummel-Hudson's house after they finished the dinner, Burt and Finn insisting Blaine come over to watch a game with them. Kurt and Rachel went scurrying up to Kurt's room and he found himself gazing up the staircase on several occasions, wondering what on earth his sister was getting up to with his boyfriend and what he was being excluded from. His heart ached at the idea of NYADA and Kurt and Rachel being so far away from him.

* * *

><p>Sam and Quinn's refusal to participate in the Christmas spectacular episode infuriated Rachel. She complained on and on about the great opportunity, but they both insisted that the soup kitchen was far more important to them given the years that each of them had had. She dragged Blaine into performing a song she'd written in a rush during the week since she'd sung <em>River<em> and Artie had torn it apart, thanking Blaine multiple times when Artie was far happier with the second performance. She still wasn't happy that the whole idea was based around _Kurt and Blaine_'s house but she handled it with better poise and grace than Blaine or Kurt had expected from her given previous encounters when she didn't get the lead vocals or starring role.

At the same time, Kurt became simultaneously more affectionate and more distant, holding Blaine's hand frequently in the hallways, but declaring he was too busy after school to hang out and rehearse. Blaine had asked Rachel but she'd smiled and cooed so condescendingly about him missing Kurt and being like an old married couple before he was even eighteen that he stopped asking and started moping around the house. Even folding the gum wrappers into an origami ring felt forced and fake, like he was making a ring for someone who was no longer truly invested in the relationship. Occasionally he'd catch himself crying while carefully folding the pieces of plastic-y paper and roughly brushed off the tears. He needed to stop being such an over-attached baby. Kurt and Rachel were both going to New York one way or another when the college semester started. He had to get used to the time apart. He had to get used to the heartache. He had to get used to being alone.

He just didn't expect it to hurt this much.

* * *

><p>Blaine couldn't understand how a Christmas special that they'd worked hard on organising could be pulled at the last minute because someone else decided to put on a movie that had been repeated so many times no one watched it anymore. To go to an ad break and be told they could pack up and go home made him furious, but not nearly as enraged as Kurt or his sister, who started screaming obscenities and how it was discrimination and dysfunctional and unfair. Rachel eventually had to be escorted out of the studios by a couple of security guards but Kurt calmed down enough to storm out with his bag over his shoulder.<p>

He looked over at Puck and Finn who were standing and gaping. "Well, I guess we can get to the soup kitchen now and help out Sam and Quinn, huh?"

* * *

><p>"Kurt, can you…" He glanced at the rush of students around and pulled Kurt to one side where the noise in the corridor was less. "I know we said we'd do exchanges closer to Christmas but I…I finished my gift for you three days ago and I just want to give it to you already."<p>

"Blaine-"

"And you can insist that you don't want it, but I would hope you won't. I want you to take it. I want you to know that it's symbolic for me, but it can mean whatever to you. I…I want it to be something that's special. I want it to be something you can take to New York with you and look at and enjoy whenever you're feeling lonely or missing me." He stared down at his hands and forced back the tears that had welled in his eyes. "I love you, Kurt. I love you so much and I- I just want you to know that, okay? And…and will you take it? Please?"

Kurt held his gaze for several moments before adjusting the strap of his bag and nodding.

Blaine fumbled in his pocket before he held out the small box. He held it in his palm as Kurt stared between the box and his face.

"Blaine, I thought we weren't going to spend anything."

"I didn't," he said. "Well, not much. You'll understand if you just open it."

Kurt clearly looked doubtful as he reached for the box and held it between his fingers. "Blaine-"

"Please just open it?" he begged, shoving his hands in his pockets to hide how badly he was shaking.

Kurt sucked his bottom lip between his teeth as he cracked open the lid of the box and opened it. He squinted and looked closer. "What-"

"It's like a promise ring," he said, shifting nervously to lean against a wall. "I know it's…I know it's not exactly the prettiest thing and it probably won't hold together too well for very long but-"

"Blaine, shut up," Kurt interrupted, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes. He touched the ring reverently before extracting it from the box and easing it onto his finger. Blaine swallowed the sob that bubbled up his throat as Kurt grinned. "It's _perfect_."

"But it's-"

"Shut," Kurt said firmly, stepping close, "up." His hand touched Blaine's cheek and Blaine moved automatically to meet Kurt's lips halfway. He didn't care that there were lingering students in the hallways as his hands rested on Kurt's hips to tug him closer. He could taste the salty tang of Kurt's tears and when he pulled away to wipe Kurt's cheeks, Kurt thumbed away the tears that leaked down his face too.

"I just love you so much and…and I know we're young but I feel like you're my entire world, Kurt. I want you to know that. I want you to know that wherever you are, however you might feel, I'm still here, I still love you. I'll _always_ love you and one day, I want to marry you and follow you until the end of the earth."

Kurt sniffled, pressing his cheek to Blaine's as he wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck. "You're the most perfect boyfriend in the entire _world_," he whispered.

"I think that crown belongs to you," Blaine murmured, holding Kurt against him.

Kurt snorted through his tears. "I have enough tiaras. You can have one."

"Why thank you, is that my Christmas present?" Blaine chuckled, kissing Kurt's cheek.

"Definitely, definitely not," Kurt replied, a quick kiss to Blaine's forehead. "But for now, I need to get to French and you need to get to Geography so shoo, shoo! You'll get yours at the appointed Christmas-present swap time of Christmas Eve."

"But Kurt, that's another week away!" Blaine whined as Kurt ran down the corridor.

Kurt waved at him and disappeared. With a huff, Blaine headed in the opposite direction to Geography.

* * *

><p>The week until Christmas Eve felt like the longest week of Blaine's life. He pestered Kurt mercilessly but Kurt turned up his nose and walked away on more than one occasion, refusing to answer Blaine's questions of what he had gotten Blaine for Christmas.<p>

But finally, _finally_ it was Christmas Eve and Kurt had brought over a large-ish box and sat with Blaine and Rachel's fathers with Finn and enjoyed the dinner that they had made while Blaine twitched like a small child on far too much sugar, knowing the gift was in the other room and wanting it so badly. Kurt kept rubbing his thigh beneath the table and hushing him, while Rachel glanced frequently between the two with a smile on her face.

Finally, _finally_, Leroy gave him a wave that said he could leave the table and he scrambled free from his seat and rushed into the family room where Kurt's present rested on an armchair, perfectly wrapped with a green bow around it. Kurt followed him into the room with Rachel and Finn trailing behind.

He bounced into the sofa and looked up at Kurt, eyes bright and expectant, while Kurt rolled his eyes.

"I'm dating a child," he stage-whispered to Rachel, who giggled into her hand. He picked up the box and crouched in front of Blaine. "This is a gift not just from me, but the _entire_ Glee club and Rachel and your fathers. It's also something you can look at while I'm in New York, or maybe while I'm away and you're…" Kurt paused for a moment and his cheeks turned pink. "And you're looking after our children or pets or something."

Blaine's eyes widened at the implications of _children, _but he kept his mouth shut.

"I love you. I love you so much sometimes that it hurts, and hiding this from you for over a month has driven me almost mental so many times," Kurt admitted with a shy smile. "But I hope you'll like it. I hope you'll cherish it and remember that no matter what, you are loved and you have so many friends who adore you."

Blaine's forehead creased with curiosity as Kurt moved the parcel onto Blaine's lap.

His fingers touched the ribbon softly before pulling the bow apart and discarding the ribbon to one side. He felt terrible for tearing Kurt's perfect wrapping as he carefully opened one end of the present, until Kurt rolled his eyes and basically ripped the paper away.

"Hey! I was going to save that!" Blaine protested as Kurt rolled it into a ball and tossed it at Rachel.

"I'll give you what was left on the roll then," Kurt replied, poking Blaine's shin.

Blaine's eyes dropped to the box in his lap which was fairly plain and non-descript on the outside but far larger than the box that had held Kurt's ring. He pulled the lid off and gazed at the cover of a book, decorated with pictures of him and his name. His gaze flicked to Kurt and then Rachel as he eased the book out of the box and opened the front page.

_Blaine Thomas Anderson: Born March 28, 1994  
>Mother: Marie Barker<br>Father: Richard Anderson_

"You…you found my birth certificate?" he blinked at the page, fingers tracing over the words of his parents' names.

"Keep going," Kurt urged softly, moving to sit on the couch beside him. Rachel sat on Finn's lap in the armchair while his fathers stood in the doorway and watched.

He turned the page and was greeted with a double-page spread of pictures of him as a child at all different ages, even as a tiny baby well before he went to school. He gazed at the small boy and could barely reconcile that it was him staring back.

Barely holding in his tears, he turned the next page over and a sob escaped from his throat. Kurt's arm surrounded his back and his hands shook as he touched the pictures.

"But how…?"

"Rachel and I drove to Akron, which is where your dads adopted you from, where Carla and Jack still live and foster kids in the hope of them getting adopted out. They remembered you, and they directed us to where you originally came from, which was Youngstown, close to the border of Pennsylvania. We then managed to track down your primary school, and then your primary school teacher who _also_ remembered you. She gave us the names of several kids who you'd grown up with, including Mandy, and their parents had numerous photos of you and your parents at parties when you were growing up and were more than willing to share."

A tear splashed onto the plastic-covered pages of the scrapbook as he kept looking back and forth between the faces of his parents. "I remember them. Kurt, I _remember_ them."

Rachel burst into sobs against Finn's chest and he patted her back awkwardly.

"Kurt…I can't even…" Tears streamed down his cheeks as he looked at his boyfriend who had an equally shiny pair of eyes. "This means the world to me."

Kurt sniffed hard and kissed Blaine's shoulder. "Rachel and I… We've been talking about it for a while. We just weren't quite sure how to do it. We weren't sure we'd even _get_ pictures but there were so many that we didn't even know what to do with them all. There are copies of every picture that we got copies of, so you can put them in your room or make up a separate album or just do whatever you want with them. We chose the best ones for this, obviously."

Blaine cried silently as he turned the next page, which had messages from Tina on the left and Mike on the right.

"No matter where you are, we wanted you to know that you're always loved by all of us," Rachel whispered, wiping her eyes. "I know I've made some really awful assumptions about you. I know I've hurt you and I've said the wrong thing and done the wrong thing. I know at times I've been the worst possible sister and a terrible friend and an outright failure as a person, but…but I truly love you, Blaine. You're my baby brother and I don't know who I'd be without you in my life."

Kurt squeezed his knee as he heaved a shaking breath, deciding to leave the close reading until later, because there was a page from each Glee club member filled with words and drawings and decorations. Towards the back of the scrapbook were pages from Wes, Thad, Nick and Jeff.

"Sebastian heard about it and wanted to be included, but I told him he could take his paper and swallow until he choked on it," Kurt informed him mildly.

Blaine started laughing, kissing Kurt's cheek so hard Kurt slipped on the couch. "I wish you'd taken a photo of his face."

"I wish he had too," Rachel spoke up. "It was absolutely priceless."

Blaine tried to quieten his hysterical giggles, turning the page again and finding a double-page spread of Rachel's swirly handwriting and gold stars everywhere.

"I'm going to read this all in-depth later, okay?" he said, and she nodded and wiped her cheeks again.

Another turn and it was a double-page spread of pictures of him and Rachel through the years, half of which he didn't even remember. There were photos of him and Rachel clearly yelling at each other, of them hugging, of the two of them curled up asleep around each other.

"I remember you telling me you always remembered the bad things about your relationship with Rachel growing up," Kurt said softly.

"The two of you were utterly devoted to each other, but you had squabbles all the time like normal siblings," Leroy said from the doorway.

"We used to bath you together and Rachel would make you sing duets into your plastic boat while she sang into the rubber duck," Hiram recalled.

Kurt started laughing at the stories they had, while Rachel and Blaine stared at each other with wide eyes.

"I've seen him _naked_ and I don't remember it?" Rachel shrieked.

"I've been in a bath with _girl parts_?" he returned equally loudly.

"Ewwww," they each shuddered, leaving everyone else in the room laughing.

Blaine turned the next page and found photos of him and Kurt growing up. He'd never thought of himself as close to Kurt growing up but there were pictures of him kissing Kurt's cheek, of Kurt cuddled into his lap, of Kurt holding his hand as they walked down the street together, or dressed up in gaudy and utterly ridiculous clothing.

"Why don't I remember this?" Blaine mumbled, trembling as he touched the photo him with his lips pressed to Kurt's face.

"My guess is that you were so traumatised by losing your parents and being moved around, and then finally settling in and then my mom dying, that you just got lost in grief and sadness for years and it's what you remember the best," Kurt explained, pointing to the photo of him in Blaine's lap. "I vaguely remember that one. It was a few months after mom died. It was spring I think and dad was working double shifts to make ends meet so I came over after school a lot and one day, I hadn't slept well and you were just so warm and safe and comfy…"

"When your father arrived to take you home, you clung to Blaine's neck and wailed so loudly we thought the neighbours might think someone was being murdered," Leroy chuckled.

Blaine snorted and kissed Kurt's nose softly. "You were adorable even then."

"You weren't so bad yourself, Mister Cutiepants."

Rachel giggled and Blaine turned another page, this time covered in Kurt's loopy scrawl that was tiny to fit in what looked to be at least a thousand words.

"I think I'm going to need a magnifying glass to read everything you wrote here," Blaine teased as he squinted.

"My wrist ached for _days_ trying to write that small."

"All I heard one morning was him saying to Burt his wrist ached," Finn said suddenly. "I started yelling really loudly to block out the rest of it. You were just _writing_?"

Kurt openly gaped at Finn as everyone erupted into laughter again.

"Dude, I'm sorry!" Finn said, hands up in surrender.

"Finn Hudson, you are the absolute _worst_," Kurt said, face red with a shocked blush.

Blaine kept turning the pages, more collages of him and various friends from New Directions or the Warblers over the years. His eyes burned with tears which he kept trying to wipe away but they just kept flowing until it was ridiculous. When he turned the final page, it was a series of newspaper clippings about his parents and their death. And even though his stomach turned at seeing the charcoaled shell of a house that he only vaguely remembered, he had some evidence of who his parents were and the date they died and information he had sought online for so long.

"Kurt, I don't even know what to _say_," he breathed when he shut the book.

Kurt took his quaking hands and held them in his. "You don't need to say anything. Or you can say thank you and I love you. You have memories in there, you have thoughts and encouragement and words of love and support. It was funny telling Wes and Nick they could only write one page. You might end up with books of your own from them at some stage because they said there was just 'far too much to love about Blaine Anderson for one goddamn page, Kurt'," he quoted.

"That was totally Wes," Blaine smiled. Kurt nodded. "I feel like my ring is so small compared to all the work you've put into this with Rachel."

"The ring is about your future," Rachel said gently, hopping free from Finn's lap to sit on the arm of the sofa. "This book is about your present and your past. It gives you memories you'd forgotten and maybe gives you the strength you'll need on days that are bleak. You'll always have me and you'll always have Kurt, and I suspect you'll always have Wes and Nick too because those two adore you." Blaine snuggled into her side and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the top of his curly head. "It's about bringing you together as one complete person and reminding you of how loved you are."

He could feel Kurt's arms surround his waist as he sobbed into Rachel's side. It felt like so much, _so much_, and yet it was just so utterly perfect that he had no words.

"I love you," he said, looking up at Rachel. She wiped his tears with her thumb and kissed his forehead. "And I love _you_," he said, turning to look at Kurt.

Kurt smiled through his tears and kissed him deeply. "Merry Christmas, Blaine."

* * *

><p>On Christmas Day, Blaine and Rachel opened presents from their fathers. Among the usual sorts of things – clothing and book vouchers, a necklace for Rachel and some cufflinks for Blaine – were two envelopes with 'Kurt' and 'Finn' written on them. Frowning, Rachel turned the envelopes over until Hiram tsked her and she stopped.<p>

"But what _are_ they?" she pleaded.

"They're our presents to the boys," Leroy said. "We know you're both heading over there for Christmas dinner so you can give the envelopes to each of the boys later."

Rachel fidgeted impatiently with the envelope until Hiram took it off her and assured her he would give it back before they left.

The wait until dinner dragged, even though Rachel took two hours to get ready and Blaine fussed with the gel in his hair. He didn't want to squash it down as much as he usually did but he still needed it otherwise the crazy mass of curls drove him insane. He put the new cufflinks through the cuffs in his shirt and adjusted his bow tie before heading downstairs to wait for Rachel.

When she finally descended in a pale blue dress, Leroy clapped and rushed off to get the camera and take some photos. She rolled her eyes and blushed with embarrassment as her fathers insisted on taking some photos of her, and then Blaine, and then them together.

"It's not _prom_," she complained.

"Just let him take his photos," Hiram said, nursing a cup of eggnog.

Finally, _finally_, Hiram handed the envelopes back to each of them and Rachel kissed each of her dads' cheeks before she walked out the door with Blaine. The drive to the Hummel-Hudson's was quiet as Rachel picked at the envelope, trying to sneak a peek at what was inside.

"I'm going to take it off you in a moment," he teased, glancing over at her and slapping her hands lightly.

She pouted and put the envelope in her lap. "I just want to know what it _is_."

Blaine had barely put the car into Park before Kurt was rushing down the sidewalk with Finn behind him. He braced himself for Kurt's arms around his neck and only stumbled a little bit.

"Merry Christmas!" Kurt grinned, kissing his cheek.

"Merry Christmas," Blaine returned, nuzzling close and breathing in the scent that was just so _Kurt_.

Finn and Rachel were exchanging too much saliva for Blaine to want to witness, so he tugged Kurt inside the house and left his sister on the sidewalk.

"Hi Mr. Hummel, Carole."

Burt rolled his eyes as he strode through the archway from the kitchen. "_Burt_."

"H-hi Burt," Blaine stuttered shyly, shaking Burt's hand and kissing Carole's cheek when she popped out of the kitchen with a handtowel over her shoulder.

Rachel walked in chatting brightly to Finn, kissing Burt's cheek and then disappearing into the kitchen to help Carole with the cooking.

"_Dad_," Kurt whined, making some sort of gesture with his hands.

"_After_ dinner," Burt said firmly, returning to the couch to watch a re-run of one of the games.

"But-"

"No buts. Go take Blaine to your room or something until dinner's ready."

Kurt froze and stared at his father. "Did you really just say that?"

Burt paused and then looked over his shoulder slowly. "Is it too late to take it back?"

"Nope! Call us when it's ready!" Kurt yelled, hauling Blaine up the stairs and into his room.

"Door open!"

Kurt rolled his eyes as he flounced onto the bed, holding his arms out for Blaine. "Did you read the scrapbook?"

"I read some of it, until I got too emotional and realised I should probably do it in small doses or I'll lose my mind," Blaine grimaced, climbing onto the bed and cuddling into Kurt's lap.

"Just as long as you remember we love you," Kurt smiled, nuzzling behind Blaine's ear.

Blaine smiled back and revelled in Kurt's soft but soothing touches, which ended far too soon when Carole announced dinner was ready.

Dinner at the Hummel-Hudson's was once again a monstrosity of food that was nearly all eaten after a nearly hour-long sitting.

"Is it time yet?" Kurt asked, bouncing in his seat a little.

"Time for what?" Blaine asked, patting Kurt's arm.

"We have envelopes with your name on them," Finn explained. "We weren't allowed to give them to you until after we ate."

"Oh! We got envelopes like that too! Blaine, what happened to them?" Rachel squealed.

"I think they must have stayed in the car," Blaine admitted, handing over the car keys. "Off you go."

"You're a jerk," she hissed, stalking out of the house to retrieve the envelopes.

"_Fine_," Burt sighed, hauling himself out of the chair and going to the family room.

Kurt clapped excitedly as he gathered the two envelopes and passed the one with 'Blaine' written on the front to Blaine and the one for Rachel to Finn. Rachel stomped back into the house and tossed Kurt his envelope and then settled into the seat beside Finn and swapped envelopes.

"Okay, so before you rip into them, these are presents from your dads," Burt said with a nod to Rachel and Blaine, "and from Carole and I. We're hoping you kids know well enough how to be safe now and look out for each other so I guess we're trusting you rather a lot but we hope you enjoy yourselves and…Carole? Did you want to say something?"

"Nope," she said with a smile and sat on the arm of the chair beside Burt. "Open up!"

With an excited shriek, Rachel started opening her envelope while Finn, Kurt and Blaine were a little more reserved.

"_Florida_?" she screamed, covering her mouth as her eyes shined. "We're going to Florida?"

Kurt and Blaine looked down at the travel itineraries in their hands and then at each other.

"You're all scattering next year for college so we all thought it would be nice for you to get away and see the beach and the ocean and chill out for a week or two without parents hanging around," Burt explained.

Rachel and Kurt leaped from their places to hug Burt and Carole while Finn and Blaine were more sedate in offering to shake hands or kisses on the cheek. Then Kurt's arms were flung around Blaine's neck and he stumbled a little to retain his footing.

"We're going to Florida!" he said, squeezing Blaine tightly.

"Apparently we are," Blaine nodded, kissing under Kurt's jaw.

Carole shooed them away and insisted Burt help her clean up from dinner. Blaine and Rachel tried to help but she stuck fast and Kurt ended up tugging Blaine upstairs to his room.

"Good Christmas present?" Blaine said, crawling onto the bed and collapsing in a heap against Kurt's pillows.

"Definitely a good one. I mean, my skin will _hate_ the heat and humidity but two weeks with you and no parents?" He grinned impishly and hovered above Blaine. "Do you think we'll leave the hotel room?"

"I dunno," Blaine murmured, hands drifting over Kurt's hips. "It's mighty tempting. The aircon. Cable. Room service."

"_Me_."

"_You_," Blaine agreed as he nodded to himself. "Yeah, we mightn't leave much."

Kurt giggled and kissed him gently. "I hope this doesn't overshadow Rachel and my scrapbook."

"What?" Blaine said, eyes widening. "No way! That book…God, Kurt. They're going to have to bury me with that! I love it so much I never want to lose it or damage it."

"Good," Kurt smiled, laying down against Blaine's chest and listening to his heart beating. "I love you."

Blaine's fingers carded through the silky strands of Kurt's hair. "I love you too."

* * *

><p>As much as he didn't want to think about Rachel and Finn being in her room with the door closed, Blaine hoped she was thinking the same not-thoughts about him and Kurt being in his room with the door closed. They'd each opted to watch their own TVs in their bedrooms while their fathers went out to a party being held by one of Leroy's colleagues from the firm.<p>

So Kurt had snuggled up against Blaine, his thumb occasionally rubbing across the fabric of Blaine's hoodie covering his chest and giggling at the terrible television they put on in the final hours before the New Year celebrations started.

"It's funny how much has changed in a year," Blaine mused during an ad break, massaging the back of Kurt's neck.

Kurt tilted his head up to meet Blaine's eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Well, last year we weren't together," Blaine said. "I remember spending so long wondering what an appropriate addition to the text you sent me was. Should I send a smiley or an x like a kiss? I drove myself insane with wondering what was too forward, what you might do."

Kurt covered his mouth to stifle his laughter.

"And now, here you are. We're both at McKinley rather than Dalton. I have you, and I love you, and I want to love you forever. You gave me back my parents, and some of my childhood. And I just…I never thought that could all happen in a year."

Kurt pressed his elbows into the bed to reach up to Blaine's face. "But it did happen. It's _real_, Blaine. You don't need to pinch yourself anymore."

"I'm trying to cut down on that. The bruises on my arms from the constant pinching weren't so good," he joked.

Kurt rolled his eyes and pressed a gentle kiss to Blaine's lips. "I'm here for you, always. I love you."

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt securely to hold him close and kiss him. "I love you too."

Kurt's nose slid down Blaine's cheek and across his jaw. "I don't suppose we could usher in the new year fireworks with some of our own?"

Blaine blinked and started laughing. "That was so incredibly corny."

"You must be rubbing off on me," Kurt grinned with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh really?" Blaine questioned, raising an eyebrow in return before rolling them over quickly and pinning Kurt to the bed. "I can definitely rub off on you in a different way if you'd prefer that. More balls dropping or something."

"_Blaine_!" Kurt snorted, slipping his fingers beneath Blaine's hoodie and across the smooth skin of his back. "You're terrible."

"You started it," Blaine breathed against Kurt's neck, tiny kitten-licks along the muscles that flexed and moved and made Kurt groan.

"Just make sure that whatever you start, you finish," Kurt warned.

"Wouldn't dream of anything else," Blaine smirked, before starting on poking the buttons through the eyelets in Kurt's vest.

It was slow, gentle, filled with soft touches and loving gazes and probably would have watched some people puke with the fluffiness of the moment. And as Blaine rocked his hips into Kurt, savouring every gasp and choked-off moan, he vaguely kept an ear out for the time until Kurt got pushy and demanding and the mood shifted and the tempo changed.

He realised after that they'd missed the ball dropping in New York, they'd missed the screaming celebrations and the cheering and the fireworks. But as Blaine stared into Kurt's eyes, brushing his sweaty hair off his forehead and kissing him over and over again, he also realised that nothing mattered as much as the boy in his arms, who healed him when he hadn't even realised he'd been breaking apart and who he'd loved for an easy majority of his life.

"I love you," Kurt whispered, trembling fingers clutching the shaking biceps of Blaine's arms.

"And I love you too," Blaine whispered back, curling his body protectively over Kurt's and basking in the love that thrummed through his whole body and shined straight back at him from Kurt's eyes. "I never thought I'd say my life had been lucky the way it turned out with my parents dying and stuff but…but I was lucky because everything that happened led me to you."

Kurt's fingers laced with his and he squeezed their hands gently. "Maybe thinking bad thoughts has unexpected benefits?"

Blaine muffled his laughter into Kurt's neck, making him squirm. "I can think of some good thoughts that have very good and very expected benefits," he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Oh my _God_," Kurt gasped as he broke into laughter again. "You're insatiable!"

Blaine grinned and bit down gently on Kurt's collarbone. "I just really love you."

Kurt hummed and stretched with a blissful smile on his face. "You're perfect, so perfect, to me."

Blaine opened his mouth to say something else but stopped when Rachel's voice filtered through the door. "Can you two keep it down in there? You're killing my mood with Finn."

"Images that I totally didn't need, Rach!" Blaine called out.

"Images of you and Kurt are ones I totally don't need!" she retorted.

"Just as well the door is locked then or you'd actually be _seeing_ those images!" Kurt shouted.

They could hear Rachel spluttering from the other side of the door before she shrieked an obscenity and they heard her door slam shut.

"Nothing like a sister to spoil the mood," Blaine sighed, rolling onto his side and grabbing some tissues from the bedside table for Kurt.

"I dunno," Kurt muttered, wiping his chest clean and then climbing on top of Blaine. "We're both performers. We could put on a show for her or something. How much do you like the idea of people listening in?"

Blaine exploded into laughter. "I like the way you think," he wheezed out through chuckles.

Kurt grinned and kissed him hard. "I like the idea of making sure Rachel knows that when you're visiting us in New York, she needs to get the hell out of our apartment."

"Mmm," Blaine agreed, sucking Kurt's earlobe into his mouth.

"_Oh_," Kurt shuddered. "Yeah so um…_yeah_."

Blaine nodded his vague agreement and even though Rachel knocked on the door several other times during the night, he and Kurt both came up with excellent comebacks that left her stomping away with curses on her tongue.

And when the birds started chirping, Blaine breathed a deep sigh of exhaustion and happiness, snuggling his now-aching body against Kurt's equally aching body, and knew that no matter demons his past might have contained, his future contained Kurt and all the light and love Kurt so freely gave him, and he knew, he _knew_, he'd be totally okay as long as he had Kurt.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I still have reviews to reply to from the last chapter and yet here I am putting up this one. Whoops!

But as they say on Looney Tunes, _that's all folks!_

...**for now**.

I often get struck by ideas while in the shower (I don't know why, I wish I did, I'd do something different like sing under the water and...no, I don't want to do that, I can't sing!) and so a couple of days ago, a sequel started taking form in my head. It's now pretty well-established. I have several other projects on the go at the moment that I simply _have_ to spend more time focusing on, and I'm going away for the next week (sorry those who read WYGC or anything else or sometimes like the odd one-shot that pops up unexpectedly, nothing will be seen from me for a week). I do, however, really hope to get lots of writing done while I'm away (fingers crossed my laptop doesn't die on me while I'm there...it has a 'may die at any time without warning' warning on it, so I'm just praying that it lasts the week) so there should be chapters of WYGC and other things written by the time I get back, yay!

Sequel timing news is, therefore, a little difficult to pinpoint. I do write very quickly for the most part with stories that steal my soul (e.g. I wrote most of chapters one to four for this over the Christmas break) but I would _hope_ that it would start appearing by the end of the month. It's tentatively titled _A Family By Any Other Name_ and actually combines a couple of ideas I've had for a while but didn't like putting into a one-shot because the ideas were too large and developed. I'm also thinking it's more likely to be told from Kurt's point of view (whereas this one I really forced myself to stay within Blaine's mind), beginning with the Florida trip (oh hey, an excuse for smut!) and issues Kurt will have during his first year of college. I'm thinking it could be quite angsty, I don't necessarily know if moreso than this, but it very well could become that.

As always though, I'm open to suggestions and what you might like to see me do with the idea of a sequel. I could drift between Kurt and Blaine if you didn't mind the changing points of view, seeing as they're in different places. I would hope most of you know how receptive I am to your thoughts by now, so please leave them with me here as a review, a private message, or on Tumblr, because I truly, truly value them.

If I'm not on your author alert, it could be a good idea for seeing the sequel pop up. Alternatively, I'd highly advise (as always) that you follow my Tumblr (an-alternate-world[dot]tumblr[dot]com) for any writing news and updates that I might post up regarding the sequel, because I honestly don't know when it will start getting posted (nothing has been written yet, it's all just ideas at this stage) but I do have other things I need to work on first before taking on something else. Alas, my life as a writer!

Okay, this is getting to be huge. Thank you, as always, for reading. I have been truly blown away by the reception to this. I am so incredibly blessed. Thank you. I hope to see as many of you as possible return for the sequel, and perhaps even starting in on other stories that I've written.

- Kami xoxo


	7. Chapter 7

It amazes me the amount of people who have put this story on alert even though it was clearly marked and described as _complete_.

So I thought I'd just post up this teeny tiny notice saying that the sequel has been posted so you can stop putting this story on alert and instead start following that one :)

As expected, it's titled _A Family By Any Other Name_ and you can find all the details you want about it within that one so…off you go and read, lovely reading friends! xoxo


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